This article is from page 8 of the 2006-05-02 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
PLANS have been lodged with Clare County Council for a €30 million retail park in Shannon.
Greenbrand Investments and Sean Halpin are proposing to develop a mixed-use park, consisting of a DIY anchor store, garden centre, three retail warehouses, 10 retail units, eight office units and one department store. The proposed development is located at Smithstown with 15,777m in gross floor retail space and 1,336m in office space.
The developers state 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 plan “would improve the socio-economic profile of the town in particular the indigenous population, addressing the identified deficiencies in this sector”.
They promised their development would be a significant boost to the local economy and environment in the Shannon region and that it would integrate with the town centre.
“The proposed development is in an optimum location from a retailing perspective and in terms of retail planning policy,” the developers say. “From a planning perspective, impact on the town centre would be positive.
“The proposal will provide a state of the art, modern mixed use development, which will enhance the sustainability of the town in general. This will be to the benefit of the local community, visitors and workers in the town and will accord with the objectives of the Retail Planning Guidelines and the South Clare Economic Corridor Local Area Plan.”
They say their development will provide “a contemporary purpose built retail park of a scale or quality not currently present in the town or county. The proposed development could more than readily accommodate a wider range and choice of goods within one area.”
This proposal has been the subject of a number of discussions with the council over the last 12 months. At the advice of the council, the developers deferred lodging the plan on a number of occasions, to facilitate amendments to the development plan. They claim that the amendments have not progressed in the timescale advised.
“Notwithstanding this, we are satisfied the proposal will complement all council objectives pertaining to the site and surrounding area.”
A decision is expected on the application later in the year.