Decision on €250m Tralee retail centre deferred amid doubts for its future

AN Bord Pleanála has deferred until January 30 a decision on a massive €250 million shopping development for Tralee.

The delay — in an appeal against the development at the Austin Stack GAA Park/John Mitchels GAA Grounds — comes against a background of growing speculation that the development may not go ahead.

Apart from the general economic downturn, the proposed retail centre, with the potential to employ 1,700 people, has also hit a number of other obstacles.

At a three-day appeal hearing in Tralee, in September, the proposal by Kerry developers John Casey and Seamus O’Halloran was opposed by other businesses in Tralee and local residents.

A crucial element of the proposal is Kerry GAA board will move from Austin Stack Park to Tralee Racecourse where it plans to build a 15,000-capacity stadium.

In August, however, Kerry County Council granted partial planning permission for the redevelopment of the racecourse. While the green light was given for the stadium, the council gave the thumbs down to a business park, a 9,500sq ft retail park and a 364-unit housing scheme.

The GAA has agreed to move from Austin Stack Park only after a stadium is built at the racecourse. But the stadium may not proceed without the business element of the entire proposal for the racecourse.

The retail proposal for Austin Stack Park /John Mitchels is the biggest ever to come before a planning authority in Kerry.

Upwards of 1,700 jobs could be created in the shopping centre which could generate €43m annually for the local economy, according to the developers. But a group of town centre businesses strongly opposed the plan at the Bord Pleanála hearing, claiming it would be the “final nail in the coffin” for the centre of Tralee. The developers rejected arguments the Austin Stack Park redevelopment would worsen traffic gridlock in Tralee.

Pointing out that a 1,500-space underground car park and a traffic management system were part of the proposal, they said the development would improve traffic flow in the town.