Councillors to seek a judicial review to save East Cork outlet centre

Councillors have asked their senior officials to take legal advice on the matter, claiming that the OPR was unjustly interfering in the planning process 

An artist's impression of the €100 million Cork Tourist Outlet Village that was proposed for the Carrigtwohill area.

Cork county councillors are expected to vote tomorrow to seek a judicial review to prevent the loss a proposed €100m Kildare Village-type retail outlet centre which would create 850 jobs at a site in East Cork.

The Irish Examiner understands that councillors held a 'behind-closed-doors meeting' last Friday to discuss taking legal action to head off attempts by Local Government and Planning Minister Peter Burke and the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) to stop the development proposed for Carrigtwohill.

Last month, councillors asked their senior officials to take legal advice on the matter, claiming that the OPR was unjustly interfering in the planning process and the decision on whether or not the project is to proceed should be decided by Bord Pleanála.

Fears have been expressed by several councillors that the developers, British-based Rioja Estates, will decide to move the project to another county, with Limerick being hotly tipped.

Rioja Estates says it would create a further 640 jobs during construction and claims the massive retail outlet will attract around 220,000 shoppers annually.

Councillors voted by a huge majority to make a variation in the Cork County Development Plan to allow the Rioja Estates plan to move to the planning stage. However, on foot of the OPR briefing to Minister Burke, he then informed the local authority the variation shouldn't proceed.

Fine Gael councillor Anthony Barry, who lives in Carrigtwohill, said that while he would like to see the retail centre built there, or anywhere in Co Cork for that matter, there was “a far bigger” issue at stake.

Mr Barry said the council had to act to preserve its autonomy and authority as the local planning body.

“There are far wider ramifications in the OPR decision which will be felt right across the whole country in terms of local authorities deciding on further planning applications, be they retail, industrial or housing.” 

He pointed out that such legal action would be expensive and suggested the council might seek support and financial backing from the Local Authorities Members' Association (LAMA) and the Association of Irish Local Government (AILG) because he believes the OPR issue has national implications.

Mr Barry also suggested that the council might also seek the support of Regional Assemblies.

It's expected that representatives from both of the largest parties on the council - Fianna Fail and Fine Gael - will back a call to seek the judicial review. Several have informed the Irish Examiner they feel they have been left with no option but to take this path to preserve local democracy.

Only a couple of county councillors have expressed concerns about the plan, suggesting it is not a sustainable development as it will lead to a major increase in traffic in the area and could cause job losses at smaller retailers.

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

The project is also opposed by Cork city retailers who fear it will damage city centre trade by drawing shoppers into the East Cork area and away from its retail heart. 

The Cork Business Association (CBA) previously said it will use "all resources at its disposal" to ensure the €100m retail village does not go ahead.

The site earmarked for the project is close to the IDA industrial estate at Killacloyne and a new road would have to be built to connect it to the N25 (main Cork-Waterford road).

However, those in favour of the project say a huge number of people travel from the Munster region to the Kildare Village centre and this impacts far more on Carbon footprints.

Rioja Estates has not made any comment on the issue since it announced its plans last year.