Appropriate Assessment
Ecological Reports
11.25 An ecological report may be required by Cork City Council to accompany a development proposal where there may be impacts on an environmentally sensitive area, habitat or landscape asset.
11.24 Appropriate Assessment (AA) is an assessment under the EU Habitats Directive in order to ascertain whether any project (or plan) would have significant effects on any European Site (formally Natura 2000 site). As with EIA, permission can only be granted for development proposals if it is demonstrated that the project (or plan) would not have significant adverse impacts on the integrity of any European Site. Cork City Council screens all planning applications for potential AA.
Cityscape and Building Height
11.26 This section sets out Cork City’s building height and tall building strategy and is based upon work prepared as part of the Cork City Urban Density, Building Height and Tall Building Study 2021.
11.29 The spatial strategy for density and building height may be updated during the life of this Plan if there are material changes to the ‘suitabilities’ or ‘sensitivities’ that form the basis for the spatial strategy. 11.30 The building height strategy responds to two key urban design contexts: 1. The prevailing building height in Cork’s neighbourhoods and major development areas; and 2. Cork’s density strategy set out in Chapter 3: Delivering Homes and Communities, which is based upon an assessment of ‘suitabilities’ for intensification and sensitivities to change. 11.31 An understanding of the character of an area is essential to inform strategies for the development of sites and areas. The Cork City Urban Density, Building Height and Tall Building Study 2021 sets out an assessment of prevailing height based upon an analysis of building heights in Cork City’s 44 neighbourhoods.
Building Height
11.27 Well-conceived designs for new buildings should be informed by the prevailing urban characteristics of the neighbourhood they would inhabit. It follows that design policies must also emerge from a detailed understanding of the prevailing urban character of specific places. 11.28 This Plan sets out a combined building height and density spatial strategy, illustrated conceptually below in Figure 11.1. The strategy is comprised of four sub-areas, each with their own quantitative performance criteria. The density strategy is set out in Chapter 3 Delivering Homes and Communities. The building height strategy is outlined in Table 11.1 and will be applied by Cork City Council when assessing development proposals.
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Cork City Draft Development Plan 2022-2028
Volume 1 I Chapter 11
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