PlanningRegister.ie
Observation pack · Cork County Council

Former Bantry Post Office, William Street,, Bantry,, Co. Cork,, P75 EN82

Change of use and alterations to the former Bantry Post Office to provide a café and indoor children's play area at ground floor and 6 no. apartments (4 no. studio and 2 no. one-bedroom) at first and second floors, including construction of a rear residential stair core and all associated site works.

Observations close 5 Oct 2026 6 days left
5 weeks from receipt (received 29 Aug 2026) · s.34 Planning and Development Act 2000 · art. 29 Regulations 2001 · fee €20

The application

Reference
26/2256 · full record
Authority
Cork County Council
Type
Permission
Status
Invalid - Case Closed
Applicant
not published by the national dataset — see the council register
Units
—
Floor area
—
Site area
320 m²
Received
29 Aug 2026
We first saw it
22 Sept 2026, 16:10
Decision due
—
Decision
not yet decided

The national dataset truncates descriptions (80 characters for DLR, 70 for Fingal) and omits the applicant. The full description and the drawings are on the council register linked in step 1.

How to submit an observation

  1. Read the file on the council register.Drawings, planning statement and site notices are at https://planning.agileapplications.ie/corkcoco/application-details/?ref=26/2256.
  2. Write your observation.Quote 26/2256 at the top, give your name and the address the authority should reply to, and confine it to planning matters — zoning objective, height, overlooking, traffic, drainage, heritage. What you say here is what you can later appeal on.
  3. Pay the €20 fee.Every submission needs it; without it the observation is invalid and is returned. Cork County Council takes it online with the submission or at the counter.
  4. Submit before 5 Oct 2026.Online through the register above, or in writing to the Planning Department, Cork County Council. The test is the date the authority receives it, not the date you post it.
  5. Keep the acknowledgement.The council's receipt is your proof of a valid observation — see below.

Statutory basis. Section 34(1) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended) requires a planning authority to consider any submission or observation made to it in accordance with the Regulations. Article 29 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 (as amended) sets the window: a submission or observation must be received by the authority within five weeks beginning on the date of receipt of the application, and must be accompanied by the prescribed fee of €20. A submission received after the window, or without the fee, is invalid and the authority must return it.

After you submit: keep the acknowledgement. Under the 2024 Act it secures your right to appeal — only the applicant and a person who made a valid observation may bring the council's decision to An Coimisiún Pleanála, within four weeks of the decision. Making a valid observation is also what buys a right of appeal: under s.37(1) of the 2000 Act, only the applicant and a person who made a valid submission or observation to the planning authority may appeal the decision to An Coimisiún Pleanála (within four weeks of the decision). Missing the five-week window closes both doors.

What the site is zoned

CodeObjectivePlanIn force
M2
Major town centre
Town Centre/Neighbourhood Centres: Promote the development of town centres and neighbourhood centres as the primary locations for retail and other uses that provide goods or services principally to visiting members of the public.CO-001:DP:cork-county-development-plan-20226 Jun 2022 → 5 Jun 2028

An application that accords with the zoning objective is hard to resist on principle; one that does not may be a material contravention, which the council can only grant by the s.34(6) procedure with its own notice and window.

Source: CORKCO CO-001:DP:cork-county-development-plan-2022 · fetched 27 Sept 2026, 19:37
SourceLicenceFetchedLink
CORKCO CO-001:DP:cork-county-development-plan-2022—27 Sept 2026, 19:37open

Designations on or near the site

  • NIAH-recorded building × 30
    house · house · G.W. Biggs and Company

Nearby precedents within 500 m, last 5 years

Decisions

ReferenceDecisionDecidedUnitsDistanceDescription
26/0979Grant with conditions19 Aug 2026—123 mThe proposed development will consist of the demolition of a single storey retail warehouse building and the construction of a music and events centre to comprise: • A multi-purpose auditorium (1105.5sqm) incorporating a 271-seat performance hall and associated ancillary rooms and spaces including reception and ticket office, foyer, changing rooms, shower and toilets, technical support rooms, green room, offices and stores; • A linked 3-storey education hub (691sqm) incorporating a ground floor café / bar (105sqm), and teaching and rehearsal rooms, a multi-purpose performance space, and other ancillary rooms on upper floors; • A separate 2-storey plant building to rear incorporating ESB substation, switch room and external stairs; • Building and site signage to include 3no. flagpoles at site entrance onto Bridge Street; • Landscaping, boundary treatment, and on site public realm works; • 2no. universal access parking spaces to the front, 2no. staff parking spaces to the rear. • 40no. cycle parking spaces, including 10no. covered cycle spaces in a bike shelter to the rear; • Modifications and improvements to existing vehicular entrance onto Bridge Street and new service and emergency gate to rear onto Market Lane; • All other associated plant, telecommunications infrastructure, utility connections, public lighting, drainage and other site development works.
26/0419Grant with conditions15 Apr 2026—158 mPermission for change of use of existing ground floor unit from food/beverage outlet to retail unit and change of use of proposed commercial building to rear from storage in conjunction with food/beverage unit to storage in conjunction with retail unit, previous planning reference: 23/00726
25/236Conditional permission9 Dec 2025—223 mPermission for the following works to existing ruinous dwelling: (i) partial demolition of existing walls, (ii) refurbishment of dwelling, (iii) construction of extension to rear, and (iv) all associated site works
25/6187Conditional permission1 Dec 2025—152 mConstruct a new vehicular entrance off the public roadway to serve the existing dwelling along with all associated site works
25/497Conditional permission8 Oct 2025—396 mPermission for the following works to existing dwellinghouse, (i) extension to the front, (ii) canopy to the front, (iii) bay window to the rear, (iv) and all associated site works
25/337Conditional permission4 Sept 2025—216 mPermission sought for first floor rear extension to existing dweling, for two number roof lights to existing street facing front roof, for reconfiguration of existing stepped entrance to dwelling and for all associated site works
25/54Conditional permission1 Sept 2025—171 m(i) Material alterations and change of use of the ground floor from an Off Licence to 2 No. one bedroom apartments, (ii) Material alterations and change of use of the first floor from Bar and associated areas to 2 No. one bedroom apartments. Material alterations to second floor from 1 No. two bedroom apartments to 2 no. one bedroom apartments from that previously granted under Planning Reference 05/591 and (iii) Fenestration changes to Western and Northern elevations along with all associated site works to an existing three storey building
25/356Conditional permission14 Aug 2025—274 mPermission for Retention of two portacabins for staff changing facilities

Appeals

ACP caseTypeOutcomeDecidedDistance
322259—Granted with conditions12 Aug 2025217 m
320500—Granted with conditions28 Mar 2025460 m
315300—Granted with conditions10 Jun 2024228 m
317283—Granted with conditions10 Jun 2024217 m
315971—Granted with conditions7 Mar 2024163 m
312994—Granted with conditions14 Jul 2022460 m

If neighbours here have appealed before and lost, the inspector's report on that case is the single most useful thing to read.

What has happened on this file

  • 29 Aug 2026 New application · observations close 5 Oct 2026

Generated from the Planning Register store; nothing was fetched live for this page. Source: national planning dataset, fetched 22 Sept 2026, 16:10. Not legal advice — confirm the deadline with Cork County Council before relying on it.