Background Information - Carbery Housing Association Annual Report 2004-5 (495 Kb PDF)
Project Report (706 Kb PDF)
Outline Planning Application (2339 Kb PDF)

Carbery Housing Association Website

Background

Carbery Housing Association is a non-profit company with charitable status and is approved by the DoEHLG for social housing development and was set up by concerned local residents in 2001.

By 2005 it had received 124 applications for housing from local households who could not afford to buy or rent adequate homes. Most were on the Cork County housing list and were single persons or childless couples.

Cork County Council has estimated that 48% of new households are not able to buy or rent on the open market. At the same time, they agree that Local Authorities will not be able to develop enough Council housing to provide for this level of demand.

CHA sees its role as contributing to solving this deficit by designing, building and managing sustainable, energy efficient social housing that meets local needs and contributes to renewable energy use.

The biggest obstacle to its progress has been the high price of residential land on the market. But in partnership with Cork County Council (Western Region) it identified land in Bantry in public ownership that was potentially ideal for the development of a sustainable neighbourhood by Carbery Housing Association.

The Project

This Project Report illustrates the submission for outline planning approval for the Seafields site off Beacon Hill and off Blackrock Road, Bantry. Both schemes include 2 and 3 bed housing and the Beacon Hill scheme also allows for a communal facility. The design of the housing is both a response to the environmental factors outlined below and to the context of Bantry itself.

The site layout reflects the traditional terracing of buildings along the hillside as the town steps away from Wolfe Tone Square. The external material palette reflects the rendered, slate-roofed local vernacular. Whilst the form, although contemporary, is low and the roof pitched. In addition to their social agenda Carbery Housing Association has adopted an environmental agenda both for the design and for the longer term running of the project.

The Report discusses:

• Environmental strategy including: Choice of Site, Energy Strategy, Construction and Health
• Social aspects of the scheme
• Contents of the plan including: Site Selection, Planning, Performance Criteria, Design, Goals and Case Studies

The outline planning application is for the construction of twenty dwellings - eight family units (3-4 bed) and twelve one- or two-person (2 bed) units - and community facilities on a site of approximately 1 Ha. The expected level of occupancy will lie in the range of approximately 45-65 people. The community building will have various uses, including as a meeting room and Housing Association local management office.

The layout envisages low energy, passive solar dwellings in a form running more or less along the east-west contours of the site, with the principal faces addressing the sun and the view within the site down to the stream.