Planning application for shopping centre lodged

A MAJOR planning application for a large shopping centre has been submitted to Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.

Development company Tristor, which is an associate company of Park Developments, has applied for a mixed use

‘district centre’ on a 20.75 acre site at Brookfield, Glenamuck Road, in Carrickmines, Dublin 18.

The application also seeks permission for a linear park, with a gross floor area of 58,863 sqm comprising two blocks up to a maximum height of four storeys at 27 metres.

The scheme includes 21,988 sqm of retail space including

‘financial services’, some 4,368 sqm of restaurant floor space and 7,488 sqm of leisure space, which includes a gym, a children’s play area and a bowling alley.

The proposals also include a cinema, a games area and community space, as well as a cultural facility and medical clinic. The scheme makes provision for 1,570 underground car parking spaces and some 660 bicycle spaces.

The site has been the focus of considerable controversy since councillors at Dun Laoghaire Rathdown rezoned the lands from

‘neighbourhood centre’ to

‘district centre’ status, as part of the process of drafting the county development plan in February 2010.

The rezoning allows for a considerable increase in the maximum allowable amount of retail floor space in developments to 25,000 sqm, as opposed to

‘neighbourhood centre’ zonings which allow for a maximum of 10,000 sqm.

Planners at Dun Laoghaire Rathdown had previously rejected a submission by Park Developments on the basis that increasing the size of the retail space at the Carrickmines site would be likely to deflect business away from a separate district centre in Cherrywood.

The council intends to develop land it owns at the Cherrywood site, which has been designated as Strategic Development Zone (SDZ).

In March 2010 former Environment Minister and Green Party leader, John Gormley, directed councillors to overturn the rezoning because he argued that the district zoning failed to comply with the Greater Dublin Retail Strategy. Councillors voted to accept the minister’s order by a narrow margin.

However, minister Gormley’s attempt to overturn the decision was subsequently ruled invalid after Tristor challenged his directions to councillors in the High Court in November 2011. The court found that, among other issues, Minister Gormley did not sufficiently consult with Tristor about his intention to overturn the rezoning.

The High Court judge presiding over the case then directed the council to reconsider the area development plan and in February last year councillors subsequently voted to allow for the

‘district centre’ zoning.

A spokesman for Tristor said the company was committed to progressing with the scheme despite the current economic environment.

“We would be fully committed to going ahead straight away, subject to the planning coming through, on the basis that we have a very strong end user interest in the scheme and we think it is fully viable, even in the current market,

? he said.

The spokesman also referred Southside People to a recent report conducted by a consultancy firm on behalf of the development company.

The report estimates that the project will support some 945 jobs over the period of its construction and 1,450 once the project is completed.

It also estimates that once up and running the shopping centre will generate Exchequer revenue in the region of

?¬14 million while contributing e80 million to national Gross Domestic Product.