Cork City Council has approved the addition of 285 new parking spaces at Apple's European headquarters to accommodate an additional 1,300 new employees this year.
The council has placed 22 conditions on planning permission granted to Apple Operations International Ltd (AOIL) for new parking spaces on land it owns north of the David McCarthy Road in north Cork.
Apple consultants DBFL Consulting Engineers told the council that the number of employees at Apple's Hollyhill campus is expected to reach 5,350 by mid-2025.
DBFL also noted that in the long term, “the number of employees could reach 6,000 by 2030 depending on market conditions.”
Permission for 285 parking spaces is in addition to the 2,572 parking spaces that already exist on the Hollyhill campus or are under construction.
In a planning report accompanying the application, consultants HW Planning said the proposal was appropriate to support the continued success of Apple Operations in Cork and to meet the growing needs of its operations in Ireland and Europe “in an environment where public transport services are insufficient”.
They noted that additional parking spaces are needed despite ongoing campus initiatives to promote environmentally friendly modes of transportation.
Outlining the reasons for the application in the report, DBFL said “additional spaces are being sought to provide short- and medium-term sustainability and mitigate expected delays to planned public transport and road network improvement works ahead of the opening of Hollyhill 5 in mid-2025.”
The report also mentions that “in the longer term, there may be opportunities to repurpose these sites for higher value uses supporting the expansion of the Apple campus once planned key upgrades to Cork's transport network are completed.”
While highlighting the need for additional parking spaces, the report cites delays in the implementation of various public transport initiatives.
According to the report, the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (CMATS) originally envisaged the completion of the Cork Northern Distributor Multimodal Road (CNDR) by 2027, which would provide active travel and public transport links to the campus.
“However, there is a possibility that delays in the implementation of the CNDR may result in the need for the proposed parking facility to be built in the short to medium term.”
Regarding the planned BusConnects activities, the report notes that while the original schedule was for infrastructure and services to begin being rolled out in 2024, it is now planned to begin in 2025/2026.
“Delays in the implementation of BusConnects have resulted in the need for additional Apple Shuttle services to address ongoing travel time reliability issues.”
The report also noted that the park and ride facilities at Dunkettle and Blarney/Stoneview are not yet operational, “despite the establishment of a dedicated park and ride office within the National Transport Authority”.
The report highlights that, in line with Apple's wider commitments to climate action and sustainability goals, the company aims to reduce the number of employees commuting to the Hollyhill campus by car over the long term, reducing the number of seats per employee over time.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
