An Bord Pleanála has given the go-ahead to a fourth out-of-town shopping centre for Limerick, despite a recommendation by its inspector that the application be rejected.
Chieftain Construction Ltd was given the go-ahead to develop a €300 million shopping centre on 39 acres at Clondrinagh, Clonconane, on the Ennis Road. The 200,000sq ft centre, to be called Coonagh Cross, will include retail and office units, a multi-screen cinema, a leisure centre, a family entertainment facility and 1,500 parking spaces.
Construction is expected to begin in the next couple of months with Sisk Construction as the main contractor.
The anchor tenant at the centre will be Tesco.
The plan also includes the construction of a new roundabout on the N18 and the realignment of part of the motorway.
The application had been given approval by Limerick County Council.
The decision followed a public hearing on the plan, which was opposed by the Retail Grocery Dairy and Allied Trades' Association (RGDATA) and local residents. Limerick City Council also raised concerns about the plan and its effect on city centre shopping.
It had argued that a joint retail strategy for Limerick did not include development at this site and that the retail needs of the county were already oversupplied.
Planning permission had previously been granted for new shopping centres at Castletroy, East way Business Park and on the Ennis Road at Dunnes Stores.
Limerick City Council had applied to have its boundary expanded in order to control out-of-town retail development, but the application was rejected by the Department of the Environment and Local Government.
The size of the Coonagh Cross development was almost halved by the developers when the plan was appealed to An Bord Pleanála.
The board ruled that Coonagh Cross would not adversely affect Limerick city centre as the prime shopping centre for the area and would be acceptable in terms of traffic safety and convenience.
The ruling stated that in deciding not to accept the inspector's recommendation to refuse permission, the board agreed that the development as originally proposed would constitute over-development but believed that the inspector's concerns had been overcome by the revised plans.
Conditions of the permission included that no part of the development would become operational until the Clondrinagh roundabout and access roadway have been completed.
A spokesman for Limerick City Council said that the new centre would have a detrimental effect on shopping in the city centre.
"The evidence presented by the county council and ourselves to An Bord Pleanála was that this site had not been envisaged as part of the joint retail strategy," he said.
"This is one of the reasons that we sought the extension of our boundary. Joint strategies have been tried and this is the result," the spokesman added.
However, Ger O'Rourke, director of Chieftain Construction Ltd, said that the new centre was badly needed because that area of Limerick was under-supplied with shopping facilities.
"This will provide a landmark feature at the entrance to Limerick," he said.
"The infrastructure will supply not only the retail area but the industrial park also. It will also require 950 staff including on a full-time and on a part-time basis."
Mr O'Rourke said that he was hopeful the centre would be completed by July 2007.
