{"id":98542,"date":"2025-10-23T05:23:35","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T05:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/98542\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T05:23:35","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T05:23:35","slug":"concern-as-refusal-of-cork-suburbs-gaming-arcade-is-overturned-by-planning-board","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/98542\/","title":{"rendered":"Concern as refusal of Cork suburb&#8217;s gaming arcade is overturned by planning board"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"contextmenu internal_Body1st\">Locals have raised concerns about a decision to overturn Cork City Council\u2019s refusal of permission for a what has been dubbed a \u201csuper casino\u201d in Ballincollig.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">In June 2024, Cork City Council refused permission for the gaming\/amusement arcade at Unit 4, Westside Retail Park, which would be open from 9am to 1am daily, saying that the \u201cadult-orientated nature\u201d and its proximity to existing retail outlets that are intrinsically \u201cfamily-friendly\u201d would damage other retailers. But now, An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la has overturned the decision and given the go-ahead to the plan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">A Ballincollig resident told  The Echo yesterday there was still opposition to it: \u201cThere\u2019s no upside for the community, it\u2019s not a business that brings joy. Who benefits from having a casino in the area, aside from the casino?<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cIf you have a pub, the vast majority of people who go in end up having a nice time, even if some don\u2019t. But the casino\u2026 most who go in have a bad time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">&#8220;You\u2019ll end up with 18-year-old lads in there, they start with a few slot machines, and it\u2019ll progress.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\n            &#8220;You could lose your whole week\u2019s pay in minutes, whereas in a pub there\u2019s only so fast you can drink.\u201d\n        <\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Information submitted to ACP by the applicant, Coalquay Leisure Ltd, said the council\u2019s decision \u201cappears to be subjective, based on personal preference, impression of an undesirable use, and local opposition rather than evidence\u201d and that this was inconsistent decision making as there are other similar operations in the city, and disagreed that there would be too many similar premises in the area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">When the plans were before the council, over 50 submissions were received, with a further 22 sent into the planning commission, saying the development would \u201cincrease the risk of undesirable behaviours, crime, disturbance, littering\u201d and that the development would normalise gambling.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">However, the Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la inspector said the proposal could contribute positively to the retail park by bringing back into use a vacant unit, complementing nearby retailers and economically benefitting the area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">In response to concerns about noise disturbance, they said all the amusement arcade activities would be indoors, and on antisocial behaviour and crime said: \u201cThe planning system cannot be used for policing purposes. Once operational, the proposal will increase levels of footfall and surveillance at the subject premises, thereby enhancing the safety and usability of this area.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">The inspector recommended that the proposed opening hours, 9am to 1am, be revised to 9am to 11pm. An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la\u2019s board granted permission, and permitted the later opening hours to 1am.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Local Sinn F\u00e9in councillor Joe Lynch said: \u201cThe city council and the community in Ballincollig have said no to this proposal, yet it is being foisted on the village.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">The Echo contacted Coalquay Leisure Ltd for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Locals have raised concerns about a decision to overturn Cork City Council\u2019s refusal of permission for a what&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98543,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[61371,72,79,6037,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-98542","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-ballincollig","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-cork-news","11":"tag-cork-city-council","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}