Report puts €30m Shannon retail park in doubt

Plans for a €30 million retail park for Shannon have been thrown into doubt after a Clare County Council planner's report recommended that planning permission be refused for the proposal.

Earlier this year Greenbrand Investments and Sean Halpin lodged plans to develop a mixed-use retail park development consisting of a DIY anchor store, garden centre, three retail warehouses, 10 retail units, eight office units and one department store.

The developers stated that the proposal "will promote growth in a sustainable manner by concentrating development in an area adjacent to the town core which will maximise use of the existing infrastructure".

The developers claimed that their proposal "would improve the socio-economic profile of Shannon and would create additional jobs representing a significant boost to the local economy and environment in the Shannon region".

The applicants promised the development would be "a state-of-the-art, mixed-use modern development which will enhance the sustainability of the town in general and would represent a modern addition to comparison retailing in Shannon".

A decision was due on the application yesterday, but the developers have requested a one-year extension for the council to further consider the development proposal.

The developers deferred a decision on the application after a planner's report into the scheme recommended that planning permission be refused on two grounds.

The report states that the proposed development materially contravenes the South-East Clare Economic Plan as it was premature pending the formulation of a master plan for the area in question.

The report also states that the "overall layout and design of the proposed development fails to exploit opportunity for development of a key site in a manner which relates satisfactorily to its siting as a prominent location on the approach to Shannon. Therefore, the proposal seriously injures the visual amenities."

The planner also ruled that the overall layout of the scheme was considered unacceptable.

The proposal also attracted a number of objections, while the promoters of the €135 million redevelopment of Shannon also expressed concern over the development.

In a submission, the Shannon Town Centre Management Company stressed that it was not opposed in principle to the introduction of appropriate retail development outside core town areas.

However, the management company stated that it would be inappropriate at this time to disperse the focus of department stores and other large outlets from the defined core area at a time when redevelopment of that core area was still in an early phase.