The developers of one of three proposed retail park projects on adjacent sites along Limerick's Ennis Road are considering their position after the scheme failed to get the go-ahead from An Bord Pleanala.
The application for a mixed retail park by Shanvale Developments was premature until such time as a new link road was built between the Ennis Road and nearby Clonmackin Road, the planning board said.
Three groups - Shanvale, Dunnes Stores and Babette - are seeking to build major retail projects on adjacent sites along one of Limerick's busiest roads in a popular residential area.
The Ennis Road is one of the main west-bound arterial routes out of Limerick. It has a mix of residential suburban estates, car show-rooms and garages, a GAA ground, hotels, and a Dunnes Stores outlet.
Shanvale Developments is proposing a mixed retail park on 4.7 hectares, including a major food anchor, a nine-screen cinema, car showroom and DIY and garden store on an existing brownfield site that includes 110,000 sq ft of warehousing and has existing permission for 15,000 sq ft of retail space. The site is currently semi-derelict, with a cold-storage facility in partial use, and a disused filling station used for storage and car sales.
Dunnes' proposed expansion and make-over of its existing outlet would include an off-licence, restaurant and garden centre. The Babette scheme, led by developer Michael Tiernan, includes a food store, bank, building society and 15 retail units.
Attempts to rationalise road entry and exit points in order to reduce traffic problems have slowed the planning process for the schemes, which fall under different jurisdictions. While the Shanvale site falls under Limerick Corporation's jurisdiction, Dunnes and Babette are sited inside Limerick County Council's administrative boundary.
In November, after rezoning part of the Babette lands, the council granted planning permission for the Dunnes and Babette schemes, subject to Dunnes' building a link road between the Ennis Road and nearby Clonmackin Road. The road would run between the Dunnes and Shanvale sites.
The recent decisions effectively "sterilises" the Shanvale project until Dunnes builds the link road. Shanvale was also reportedly unhappy with the siting options for its project off the link road, which it regarded as disadvantageous.
A Dunnes spokesman said he wasn't aware of a starting date yet for the its project.
Prior to the recent hearings, Dunnes objected to the Shanvale project on the grounds that a planning application had not been made for access on to the link road, a view upheld by An Bord Pleanala.
Dunnes also objected to Shanvale on the grounds that it was not in accordance with the retailing strategy set out in the Limerick Retail Study 1998, and that there was insufficient capacity in the economy to accommodate Shanvale's scheme. Shanvale subsequently submitted a detailed retail impact assessment refuting that view. The recent planning board decision made no comment on the issue.
Limerick Corporation says it is optimistic the Shanvale scheme will go ahead, along with the other two projects, once the link road is constructed. "We're very anxious to have the site developed," said Fergus Quinlivan of the corporation's planning department.
