Councillors welcome ruling in favour of Kildare-village style centre for Cork

Council wins High Court review possibly paving the way for outlet in Carrigtwohill, which developers said would create 850 jobs and attract around 220,000 shoppers annually 

The proposed €100 million Cork Tourist Outlet Village at Carrigtwohill which looks to be back on track after a High Court ruling..

Cork county councillors have welcomed a High Court ruling vindicating their decision to back plans for the creation of a €100m Kildare Village-type retail centre in East Cork.

The project looks to be back on track after the local authority won a judicial review overturning an order from the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPW) not to proceed with it.

In November 2019 Rioja Estates, a British-based company, announced plans to develop the outlet in Carrigtwohill, which it said would create 850 jobs and attract around 220,000 shoppers annually.

The council then moved to rezone the land to accommodate the plan, but was told by the OPR it couldn't.

Standing orders were suspended at a county council meeting to discuss the ruling by Mr Justice Humphreys, who has decided the local authority was well within its rights to do what it did.

Fine Gael councillor Michael Hegarty, who got the suspension of standing orders, said it was “the right result".

“It proves we as a local authority did everything correctly. Those of us in this county know what is best for the region. We had regard for the planning guidelines. The OPR did a very heavy-handed job in trying to bulldoze this situation,” Mr Hegarty said.

Significant

Fianna Fáil's Seamus McGrath said: “It's clearly a very significant decision which I welcome. It vindicated our action (of seeking a judicial review). The judge's decision has shown us to be right. I hope it is a decision which will have widespread consequences across the country.”

He added that the powers of the OPR need to be reviewed.

Fellow FF councillor Joe Carroll said it had been one of the greatest days ever for the council.

“If we didn't win this thing we might as well pack our bags and go home. I'm over the moon as a result of this decision,” he said while Patrick Gerard Murphy described it as “a fantastic day for local democracy” and said it meant “people in Dublin can't dictate to us what we do".

“We took on this case as a matter of principle. All we were doing as councillors was ensuring the economic development of our county,” Fianna Fail councillor Frank O'Flynn said.

Carrigtwohill-based Fine Gael councillor Anthony Barry said the ruling shows “the interference by the OPR was unjustified.” 

Greens oppose

However, Green Party councillors Alan O'Connor and Liam Quaide reiterated they're not in favour of the retail outlet as it would create far more vehicle journeys, thus increasing carbon footprint.

Fine Gael's Gerard Murphy then warned that the judgement could be subject to an appeal.

Fine Gael councillor Susan McCarthy pointed out the Kildare Village centre has doubled in size since the OPR made the order. She said that increase in floor space is actually bigger than the project proposed for Carrigtwohill.

Council chief executive Tim Lucey commended the council's director of planning, Michael Lynch, and his team and the council's legal advisors for the work they'd put in.

He said there are still some other issues outstanding in relation to the judgement, but suspects they will now fall in the council's favour.

While costs have yet to be determined, Mr Lucey suspects the council will be awarded its costs for mounting the judicial review.