Big growth on way for Skibbereen family firm

CORK County Council has granted the owner of a garden centre in Skibbereen permission to extend the family business.

Skibbereen Garden Centre was granted planning permission on Tuesday, March 10th last to carry out alterations to the existing shop, namely an extension to the side of premises.

Mark Lee said the extension – measuring 15m by 4m – will create space for a new office, store and staff room, while a new covered sales area is to be created outdoors.

Mark said the garden centre was also granted planning permission to install solar panels on the roof, as well as alterations to the layout of both the front entrance and rear exit of the shop.

The relocation of a polytunnel, and the installation of a rainwater harvesting system, were also granted as part of the planning permission issued by the local authority.

Mark told The Southern Star: ‘Business has been good and we decided the time was right to reinvest in the garden centre to make it a better shopping experience for our customers.’

Meanwhile, Cork County Council has until April 7th next to decide on a planning application for permission to construct an extension to the Plough Bar in Skibbereen.

Although some development has taken place, the latest application is for an extension to link the existing ground floor retail area to an existing storage building at the rear, including a new flat roof and elevational changes to the storage building.

Permission is also being sought for change of use of a part of the ground floor from toilet and storage area to retail use.