Observation pack · Cork County Council

Sirius Arts Centre, The Old Yacht Club, Westbourne Place, Cobh, Co. Cork, P24 F209

Permission is sought by Sirius Arts Centre which consists of conservation led universal accessibility improvements to the buidling. This includes a bespoke platform lift to the main entrance at Westbourne Place requiring alterations to existing entrance steps, adjacent footpath and valued area underneath the footpath. New internal alterations to allow for improved universal accessibility are proposed to include a new staircase and lift and the removal of existing staircases and alterations of internal walls to allow for this. Internal alterations at the lower level are proposed to allow for new toilet facilities, administration staff office space, gallery shop, cafe, altered layout of artist residence space, workshops, museum space, and community room. Alterations to external elevations will allow for enhanced access to lower level terraces. The proposal also includes the installation of new wastewater treatment system, and all associated site works at Sirius Arts Centre (Protected Structure - RPS 01944), The Old Yacht Club, Westbourne Place, Cobh, Co. Cork.

Observations close 6 Nov 2026 15 days left

5 weeks from receipt (received 2 Oct 2026) · s.34 Planning and Development Act 2000 · art. 29 Regulations 2001 · fee €20 · council decision due 26 Nov 2026

The application

Reference: 26/2553 · full record
Authority: Cork County Council
Type: Permission
Status: Awaiting Validation SRO
Applicant: not published by the national dataset — see the council register
Units: —
Floor area: —
Site area: 1,286 m²
Received: 2 Oct 2026
We first saw it: 21 Oct 2026, 02:10
Decision due: 26 Nov 2026
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

Read the file on the council register.Drawings, planning statement and site notices are at https://planning.agileapplications.ie/corkcoco/application-details/?ref=26/2553.
Write your observation.Quote 26/2553 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.
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.
Submit before 6 Nov 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.
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

Code	Objective	Plan	In force
G5 Open space and amenity	Green Infrastructure includes 3 subcategories - Green Recreational (GR), Green Conservation (GC) and Green Active (GA)	cork county development plan 2022	6 Jun 2022 → 5 Jun 2028
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.	cork county development plan 2022	6 Jun 2022 → 5 Jun 2028
R3 Rural cluster	Existing Residential/Mixed Residential and Other Uses: The scale of new residential and mixed residential developments within the Existing Residential/Mixed Residential and Other Uses within the settlement network should normally respect the pattern and grain of existing urban development in the surrounding	cork county development plan 2022	6 Jun 2022 → 5 Jun 2028
R3 Rural cluster	Existing Residential/Mixed Residential and Other Uses: The scale of new residential and mixed residential developments within the Existing Residential/Mixed Residential and Other Uses within the settlement network should normally respect the pattern and grain of existing urban development in the surrounding	cork county development plan 2022	6 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: Cork County Council development plan zoning · fetched 27 Sept 2026, 19:37

Source	Licence	Fetched	Link
Cork County Council development plan zoning	—	27 Sept 2026, 19:37	open

Designations on or near the site

NIAH-recorded building × 24
house · Cobh Methodist Church · Ard na Laoi

Nearby precedents within 500 m, last 5 years

Decisions

Reference	Decision	Decided	Units	Distance	Description
26/1526	Grant with conditions	15 Oct 2026	—	431 m	Planning permission is sought for construction of a steel deck in the rear of the existing dwelling in the first floor; demolition of part of the existing dwelling to the north elevation; provision of a small enclosed yard to rear of the existing dwelling, alterations to existing dwelling including new sand and cement render painted white to all elevations; new windows, doors and velux roof lights to north and south-facing roof slopes; internal alterations; installation of solar panels to north and south-facing roof slopes; and all associated site works at 6 Roches Row, Cobh Co. Cork, P24ND26.
26/0704	Refused	13 May 2026	—	224 m	Permission for retention of three number canopies to facilitate existing cafe which is the kiosk a protected structure, and any of the public in general in who wish to use. On an existing footpath and all associated site works
25/6796	Grant with conditions	11 May 2026	—	424 m	Change of use, internal alterations and elevational changes to the ground and first floor. The proposed internal alterations and elevational changes will facilitate the proposed change of use from a licensed bar and restaurant at ground and first floor level to 2 no. apartments (1 no. 3 bedroom apartment and 1 no. 2 bedroom apartment). The proposed development consists of or comprises the carrying out of works to a protected structure, [Protected Structure, RPS ref. 1962].
25/5939	Grant with conditions	13 Mar 2026	—	441 m	Permission for change of use of vacant ground floor retail unit to one number apartment, all related works area exclusively to number 13 East Beach. The building is a Protected Structure (Ref. No. 20827328). This application is comprised of the following items: alterations of internal layout, adding 1 bedroom, 1 living room and kitchen, 1 bathroom, addition of 2 sash windows on the front facade.
25/5458	Grant with conditions	10 Mar 2026	—	145 m	Permission for 1) demolition of single storey extensions to the side of the existing dwelling, 2) construction of single storey extensions to the side and rear of the existing dwelling, 3) alterations to the driveway and elevations of the existing dwelling, a protected structure (PS. no. 01824) and all associated site works
25/6754	Grant with conditions	10 Feb 2026	—	286 m	Permission for the construction of single-storey extension to rear of existing dwelling and all associated site works.
25/5276	Conditional permission	17 Dec 2025	—	396 m	Permission to: 1.) Convert the existing building from light industrial use to a theatre, 2.) Construct a wheelchair access ramp along the existing eastern elevation, 3.) Construct elevational changes to the existing building, 4.) External signage to be placed on the existing north & east elevation & all associated site works.
25/6261	Grant with conditions	16 Dec 2025	—	356 m	Permission to erect a single storey extension to the rear of an existing dwelling house and all associated site works

Appeals

ACP case	Type	Outcome	Decided	Distance
500464	—	Granted with conditions	14 Sept 2026	234 m
319299	—	Refused	14 Mar 2025	424 m
321256	—	Refused	25 Feb 2025	356 m
311320	—	Granted with conditions	19 Jan 2022	229 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

2 Oct 2026 New application · observations close 6 Nov 2026

Generated from the Planning Register store; nothing was fetched live for this page. Source: national planning dataset, fetched 21 Oct 2026, 02:10. Not legal advice — confirm the deadline with Cork County Council before relying on it.