€100m Limerick shopping centre plan rejected

Limerick City and County Council has refused planning for a proposed €100m shopping centre in the Dublin Road suburb.

Belfast developer Suneil Sharma wants to develop an abandoned, partially developed site at the Parkway Valley.

To be named Horizon Mall, Mr Sharma had said the construction would deliver hundreds of jobs and he had got agreement from Marks & Spencer to be the main anchor tenants.

However, Limerick city centre businesses opposed the plan, saying it would further hit footfall in the city’s main business streets.

They further claimed that the development contravened the council’s retail strategy.

Mayor of Limerick Michael Sheahan welcomed the council’s refusal, saying “we have to start rebuilding the city centre”.

Helen O’Donnell, chairman of the city centre business group, said more than 60 businesses had signed an objection to the development, and they welcomed the decision.

She said there were a number of sites in the city centre which could accommodate a shopping centre of the size proposed.

Mr Sharma was responsible for acquiring a large number of properties on Patrick St, where he proposed to the mall, to be called the Opera Centre.

He sold this site to other developers before the property crash and it has now been acquired by Limerick City and County Council with funding approved by the Government.

The Opera site is proposed as a central hub of the 2030 development plan for the revival of the city centre. University of Limerick plans to develop a city centre campus with accommodation for more than 400 students and Opera Centre is one of the proposed sites.