A planning application originally granted permission by Cork County Council for a proposed whiskey maturation complex near Rosscarbery in west Cork has been refused on appeal to An Bord Pleanála.
Planning permission was granted in January 2023 to Skibbereen-based West Cork Distillers to build six whiskey maturation warehouses at the rural site at Tullig near the village of Reenascreena.
The proposed development would have included six warehouses for the maturation of whiskey with a total floor area of 9,180m² and an overall height of 11.45m as well as a service building, security fencing and boundary works.
West Cork Distillers had originally applied for permission to build 12 warehouses at the site which would have extended to more than 18,000m² in floor area.
Despite the reduction in size of the proposed development the decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanála by local residents Niall Dignan and Sam Dignan as well as the Tullig and Reenascreena Community Group and Friends of the Irish Environment.
An Bord Pleanála’s order refusing permission stated: “Having regard to the nature, scale and number of the proposed warehouses and to the use proposed which is not linked to the immediate area and also having regard to the site location in a rural area on unzoned land with limited services.
“In particular, accessed off a local road network of limited width, as evidenced in the need to provide for six number passing bays on this local road to facilitate the development.
“It is considered that the proposal represents an inappropriate form of development that cannot be sustained in this rural area and the HGV trips generated on this substandard rural road network would endanger public safety by reason of traffic hazard and obstruction of other road users.
“The proposed development would, therefore, be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.”
Welcoming the decision, local resident and spokesperson for the Tullig and Reenascreena Community Group Calvin Jones said: “More than two years after submitting an appeal to An Bord Pleanála, Tullig and Reenascreena Community Group is delighted that the Board has overturned the decision of Cork County Council and refused planning permission for West Cork Distillers’ industrial warehousing complex at Tullig, Leap.
“The Board’s conclusions vindicate what residents have maintained from the outset: that industrial scale warehousing of this nature is wholly inappropriate in this rural setting and would be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.”
