Dunnes to open on site in Ashbourne

The fast-growing Co Meath town of Ashbourne is poised to become an important retail centre following the decision by Dunnes Stores to open a supermarket along the main street.

The Irish multiple has created a major surprise by buying a range of old corn stores for over £4.5 million (€5.7m) - £2 million (€2.54m) more than the guide price issued by Insignia Richard Ellis Gunne. The under-bidder is understood to have been a consortium.

Garvan Walsh of the selling agents said yesterday he was not yet in a position to identify the purchaser of the grain stores which stand on a site of 3.29 acres. The seven corn stores - frequently condemned as an eyesore - were owned for many years by Dardis & Dunns, now in receivership, along with Kavanaghs Mill in Maynooth.

The Ashbourne site has full planning permission for 12,000 sq ft of offices, 10,300 sq ft of retail space and 114 apartments.

Dunnes' decision to acquire the site is likely to be welcomed by Meath County Council, which is anxious to see the town develop along conventional lines - with more high street shopping to replace private homes and the ghastly corn stores.

As part of its strategy, the planners have allowed a three and four-storey commercial and residential streetscape to be developed along the main street, at the opposite end of the town.

The Dardis & Dunns site is directly opposite a shopping centre built more than 10 years ago, but still trading well below its potential. The arrival of Dunnes will be a direct challenge to Super Valu, the anchor tenant in the centre.

Although Ashbourne is one of the fastest growing towns in the greater Dublin area, it has been slow to attract high profile traders up to now. Most families tend to shop in either Finglas or Blanchardstown. Tesco had planned to cater for much of this trade by redeveloping the Janelle Centre in Finglas after acquiring it a few years ago.

Dunnes' arrival in Ashbourne is likely to keep shoppers in the area and prove a major boost to a town with the second highest population in the county, after Navan.

Meath's two other principal towns, Trim and Kells, have also grown with the increasing tendency by young couples to opt for cheaper homes away from Dublin, but Ashbourne has been the largest beneficiary, because of its closeness to the city.

The population is set to increase by 50 per cent to 12,000 within four years. In 1996 there were just 5,000 inhabitants. That figure has already shot up to 8,000, and is expected to increase even more rapidly in the future as the town has been earmarked as a "major growth centre" in the recently adopted Co Meath development plan.

This designation means Ashbourne has been targeted for development to promote a vibrant industrial, residential and commercial base. The county council has repeatedly emphasised that it wants Ashbourne to develop in a balanced fashion to avoid it becoming "just another town for Dublin commuters".

TO this end, a further 160 acres of land have been zoned residential and, according to one council official, "planning applications are already coming in on foot of this zoning".

An existing 50-acre industrial estate to the north of Ashbourne has had 40 acres of zoned industrial land added on. This estate will be close to an interchange on a proposed bypass for the town, work on which is expected to start in 2002.

A new town centre is planned to the east and south of the Rath Cross area, so as to increase and improve the existing retail core. "We want to make the development of Ashbourne as self-sustaining as possible so that people can work, live, shop and socialise in the town," according to the county council.

The 230-home Cluain Ri scheme and Broadmeadow Castle (consisting of a shopping mall, supermarket, hotel and offices) project has greatly enhanced the entrance to the town.

One potential blot on the landscape for Ashbourne is that a 1,200-acre site at Palmerstown, Ashbourne is one of five shortlisted by Fingal County Council as a replacement for the Baleally dump near Rush. Ashbourne residents have set up an action group to oppose these plans.