A controversial €2 billion residential and retail complex planned for Co Wicklow has been refused planning permission by An Bord Pleanála, it was confirmed yesterday.
Pizarro Developments - a consortium led by Paddy Kelly and including Durkan New Homes, Newlyn Group, Alanis Ltd and Pierse Construction - was last year granted planning permission by Bray Town Council and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to build a 50,000sq m shopping complex, together with an eight-screen cinema, hotel, apartments, offices and overground car parking in a scheme that had been promoted as a rival to the Dundrum Shopping Centre.
To have been located on Bray's old golf club lands, a natural flood plain, the decision to grant permission was appealed to the planning board last May by local residents who have been campaigning to keep the flood plain free from high density development. A week-long oral hearing was convened in Bray last October.
A spokesman for the planning board confirmed yesterday that the development had been refused and that relevant parties were due to be officially notified by post this morning.
Among the reasons cited for its refusal, the board has said that to grant planning permission would be "premature" pending the approval of the Bray Flood Defence Scheme.
It also said it would be premature pending a plan for the overall management of traffic in Bray and the determination by the planning authority of a road layout for the area.
However, proponents of the development have reacted positively to yesterday's news, stating that the board's comments do not rule out the possibility that the project could get the go-ahead in the future, as many of the infrastructural requirements are already under way.
"It is clear from an initial review of the decision, and the reasons for it, that An Bord Pleanála has endorsed the development on this site in broad terms, and most particularly in relation to its suitability for a large-scale retail development in the town," said Bray Chamber spokesman Jason Cooke. Meanwhile, Pizarro Developments has reiterated its commitment to both the town and the site.