Observation pack · Cork County Council

18 Pearse Square, Fermoy Td., Fermoy, Co.Cork

Permission for retention of change of use of former ground floor offices to café which is a protected structure

Observations close 25 Nov 2026 11 days left

5 weeks from receipt (received 21 Oct 2026) · s.34 Planning and Development Act 2000 · art. 29 Regulations 2001 · fee €20 · council decision due 15 Dec 2026

The application

Reference: 26/2723 · full record
Authority: Cork County Council
Type: Permission for Retention
Status: Awaiting Recommendation
Site area: 161 m²
Received: 21 Oct 2026
Decision due: 15 Dec 2026

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=26/2723.
Write your observation.Quote 26/2723 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 25 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
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

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 within 100 m

NIAH-recorded building × 37
Grand Hotel · house · Abbey House
Recorded monument × 3
Bridge · Historic town · R131593

Nearby precedents within 500 m, last 5 years

Decisions

Reference	Decision	Decided	Distance	Description
26/0638	Grant with conditions	9 Nov 2026	387 m	(a) modification to existing boundary wall and garden (b) a new dwelling house (c) associated site works and services, all which is within the curtilage of a protected structure.
26/2350	Grant with conditions	3 Nov 2026	61 m	Permission to retain indefinitely the store, walk in fridge and bin store extension to the permitted takeaway on lands at 13 McCurtain Street,Fermoy, Co. Cork, a protected structure.
26/1753	Grant with conditions	17 Sept 2026	349 m	Permission for change of use of former HSE dental surgery, renovations and extensions to same to provide 3no. (1 bed) apartments with associated ancillary site works at Chapel Square, Fermoy P61RD36
25/6372	Grant with conditions	2 Mar 2026	451 m	Permission for the construction of a two-storey split-level three bedroom dwelling house on the grounds of protected structures; Dwelling house RPS2070 & riverside wall RPS2288. The development includes the demolition of an existing garden shed (15.9sqm) and the construction of an new gated vehicular entrance off the existing driveway with a right of way to the existing entrance gates, all with associated site works.
25/5496	Conditional permission	9 Feb 2026	61 m	Permission for a change of use and alterations to a protected structure consisting of a change of use from existing retail use to hot food takeaway at ground floor level only, and to change 4 no. existing PVC windows to (period correct style) slide sash hardwood timber windows at first floor level to front elevation, it is also proposed to change both existing front doors at ground floor - front elevation to (period correct style) hardwood panel doors, and also to construct a single storey extension to the rear of the property. Permission is further sought for a new shop signage to front elevation. Retention permission is also sought to retain indefinitely existing ground floor doorway (to front elevation -which is used for on street access to existing first floor residential unit) and existing internal stairs, and for an existing first floor kitchen extension to the rear of property. All works to include all associated and necessary site works
25/6609	Grant with conditions	2 Feb 2026	399 m	Permission for retention of pedestrian gate in existing boundary wall which is within the curtilage of a protected structure
25/4588	Conditional permission	15 Jan 2026	82 m	Permission for change of use of first, second and third floors from residential to commercial use as offices, canteen, stores in association with existing pharmacy at 15, Patrick Street, Fermoy. Demolition of 2 no. two storey extensions to the rear, reconstruction of a single storey extension in place of 2 no. two storey extensions to be demolished, levelling internal ground floor levels to match floor levels at Patrick Street, internal alterations to include 3 no. door opes to join the retail areas of 15 and 17, Patrick Street at ground floor level and elevational changes to rear onto Store Street to accommodate the alterations. This will involve the carrying out of works to a Protected Structure.
25/4560	Conditional permission	15 Dec 2025	91 m	Permission for renovations and a change of use of existing commercial building to a ground floor medical clinic and 2 no. one bedroomed apartments on the first floor including alterations to existing elevations with new shopfront units facing onto Connolly Street and all associated site works.

Appeals

ACP case	Outcome	Decided	Distance
324742	pending	23 Oct 2026	466 m
500935	Refused	31 Mar 2026	61 m
320877	Granted with conditions	9 Oct 2025	127 m
313253	Refused	1 Sept 2025	466 m
317224	Other	24 Apr 2025	330 m
320432	Other	25 Oct 2024	252 m
320478	Other	25 Oct 2024	298 m
313763	Granted with conditions	20 Feb 2024	19 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

21 Oct 2026 New application · observations close 25 Nov 2026

Generated from the Planning Register store; nothing was fetched live for this page. Source: national planning dataset, fetched 10 Nov 2026, 23:01. Not legal advice — confirm the deadline with Cork County Council before relying on it.