Cork's 'Kildare Village' project dealt planning blow

A €100 million Cork Tourist Outlet Village is proposed for the Carrigtwohill area.

Efforts to develop a Kildare Village-style outlet on the outskirts of Cork City have been dealt a blow after the Minister for Housing Local Government and Heritage intervened in a planning row.

Peter Burke has directed that a variation to the 2014 Cork county development plan be deleted, saying it was "inconsistent" with the guidelines published in 2012.

Cork county councillors voted in favour of a controversial variation to the plan to facilitate such a project and triggering intervention by the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR).

A proposed variation to provide strategic planning policy support for the provision of a retail outlet centre in the N25 Corridor area - between Carrigtwohill and Midleton - was adopted by county councillors in January.

Aerial picture showing the Carrigtwohill area with the planned retail outlet village marked in red.

But within weeks, the OPR intervened and said the variation should not be allowed due to the premature nature of the changes, which were made prior to the development of a joint city and county retail plan.

Mr Burke said in his direction to Cork County Council that he was acting on the recommendation of the OPR and the variation "fails to set out an overall strategy for the proper planning and sustainable development of the area."

The Minister has issued a Direction to @Corkcoco instructing that Variation No. 2 of the Cork County Development Plan which identifies a preferred subcatchment for a prospective Retail Outlet Centre for Metropolitan Cork is to be deleted. The Direction is below.@EoinBearla pic.twitter.com/RLlu7vpNlr

— Marcia D'Alton (@marciadalton) December 23, 2020

 

Independent councillor Marcia D'Alton said: "The minister's intervention means the path for the project envisaged by Cork County Council can no longer go ahead.

"The council's variation paved the way for the development in east Cork, as identified by the consultants that the council engaged."

Ms D'Alton added: "It doesn't mean that the development cannot go ahead, but now both city and county councils have to plan where the development should go and if it's in the best interest of the county as a whole."

Rioja Estates 

Plans for the ambitious proposal emerged late last year when British-based company Rioja Estates confirmed it wanted to build a retail centre similar to Kildare Village on a site at Killacloyne, near Carrigtwohill.

Rioja Estates describes itself as "the largest independent outlet promoter and developer in Europe". 

Its advisers on this project included former Cork county manager Martin Riordan.

The company said it had spent four years researching the viability of a second large-scale retail outlet centre in Ireland and was satisfied there was room for another one and that the Carrigtwohill site was the best location.