This article is from page 2 of the 2006-12-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
THE MIGRATION of Ennis business out of centre locations continues with a €10 million retail development planned for the Ballymaley area.
This follows a proposal by Keco Development for another retail development 3km north-east of Ennis.
The Ballymaley plan is for 25 units on a 13 acre site within eight blocks. The owners of the land are John Dillane of Banner Motors; Oliver Walsh of Oliver Walsh Motors; Liam Cleary of Cleary Motors and Enda O’Connor of O’Connor Engineering.
According to a statement accompanying the planning application, the development is mainly for retail warehouse use within the mixed commercial setting. Office units are to be owned and occupied by Keco Construction Ltd and Vaughan Accountants.
Keco is the main developers and will relocate from their existing base at Fountain.
A commitment to purchase pending planning has been agreed with Vaughan Accountants whose relocation is forced primarily due to lack of appropriate office space and a chronic shortage of staff and customer parking near their existing base in Abbey Street.
The statement says that Oliver Walsh and Liam Cleary Motors are to relocate from existing out of centre site as the sites no longer meet the requirements of their business. Banner Motors is to relocate the wholesale component of its existing operation on Cornmarket Street where the retail operation will remain.
The developers maintain that the proposal will not have an adverse impact on Ennis town centre but should improve the competitiveness of Ennis and the county as a whole in line with the county retail strategy.
“The development offers a high quality, purpose designed and built retail park to this important gateway; the site is well placed because of its proximity to the northern end of the bypass as a link to the rest of Ennis and beyond”.
“There is a clear need for this type of development within the Ennis Environs and this site is available in the short term to meet those needs in conjunction with other retail proposals in the area and will be instrumental in reducing the flow of bulky goods in the Limerick Metropolitan area.
Clare County Council has stated that it has ‘serious concerns’ in relation to the development from a traffic safety perspective and has put the plan on hold.