North Cork Fine Gael Councillor John Paul O’Shea has welcomed the submission of planning permission for the second phase of refurbishment works at Millstreet Community Hospital. This follows the completion of the first phase of works in 2018. Cllr. O’Shea said the refurbishment works at Millstreet, as well as at Kanturk Community Hospital, were being funded with €9.7 million from the government’s Capital Investment Plan.
The second phase planning application, submitted to Cork County Council in recent days, seeks the demolition of several structures within the grounds, including two existing single-storey rear extensions, part of a rear kitchen extension, garden wall to the rear of the site and roadside wall to the front of the building.
It seeks the construction of a single-storey extension to the existing hospital, consisting of 11 ensuite bedrooms, dining room, kitchen store and changing facilities, new extended day rooms, toilets and assisted bathrooms, administration offices, relocated staff changing facilities, laundry room, plant room, meter room, new link corridor, and secure garden courtyard.
Other aspects of the submission include: partial removal and alterations to the existing rear access road; provision of landscaped outdoor amenity & pathway; external site lighting; roof mounted PV panels; reconfiguring and extending of existing car parking facilities from 18 spaces to 32 spaced; and general upgrade of landscaping areas.
Commenting this week, Cllr. O’Shea said: “I had the pleasure to visit Millstreet Community Hospital with Minister of State with responsibility for Older People, Jim Daly TD, last October and both he and I were impressed by the refurbishments that had been completed by that time. The second phase of works, which were prepared by the project’s design team in recent months, will see the hospital’s facilities improved even further.
“These refurbishment works will make the hospital a state-of-the-art facility that will appropriately cater to the needs of its patients and its staff. I look forward to the swift progress of this application through the planning phase and, once approved, the subsequent tendering and construction phases. Millstreet Community Hospital and nearby Kanturk Community Hospital are two examples of this government’s commitment to improve vital residential services for our ageing population,” he said.