Ballincollig is ‘a useful model for planning in all Irish towns’

It was once a quiet rural village with a one-sided main street. But following the opening of retail giant Tesco’s latest Irish store in Ballincollig, Co Cork, yesterday, the town on the western outskirts of Cork City now boasts one of the widest retail choices of any town in Ireland.

And while some established retailers have expressed concern at the arrival of another big-brand retailer in the town, planners have hailed the planning approach as a national example of how Irish towns should develop.

With a population of around 18,000 people, the town is now home to a Tesco; a Dunnes within trolley pushing distance; two SuperValus; two Aldi outlets and a Lidl less than a mile away.

It’s all a far cry from when the old L&N was the biggest supermarket in Ballincollig.

Local SuperValu supermarket boss Sean Quish, who took over the L&N business in 2000, said he’s not too bothered by Tesco’s arrival.

“We’re not reacting to them at all — they’ve been in Wilton for years and that’s only a 10-minute drive from here,” he said.

His Cork store now employs 130 people. He employs 70 people at his SuperValu store in Tramore.

His Ballincollig store has just undergone a complete facelift but he said the timing of the renovations had nothing to do with Tesco’s arrival.

“Every supermarket worth its salt reinvents itself every five years,” he said.

The revamp included the development of a new health and wellness section where a nutritionist will be hired to provide on-site advice to customers.

“Nobody owes me a living — we have to fight for everything,” he said.

“Once competition arrives, you can get obsessed with opposition, and lose sight of what you’re trying to do yourself and that is to offer the best offering you can.

He also pointed to SuperValu’s roots in the community — Quish’s sponsor Ballincollig Rugby Club, Dripsey GAA club and are hugely supportive of the thriving Ballincollig Tidy Towns movement.

The store recently changed its lighting and refrigeration systems to reduce its carbon footprint and cut its energy bill, which allowed it nominate local groups to benefit from the savings it achieved.

Emer Cassidy, chairman of Ballincollig Business Association, said the town should embrace Tesco’s arrival, and use it to its advantage, to attract new shoppers to the town centre.

“I hope nobody will be negatively affected and we would be sensitive of the fact that there are concerns amongst retailers in the same sector.

“But if we can embrace it, and use the entire retail offering to showcase what Ballincollig has to offer, we can attract more business to the town.”

Planning experts hailed Tesco’s arrival as an example of how all Irish towns should be developed.

William Brady of UCC’s Centre for Planning, Education and Research said the opening of the store was another important step in what has been a carefully planned process of transforming a small village into a vibrant, attractive and sustainable town within Metropolitan Cork.

“This is actually part of a very long-term project which started in the 1970s when Ballincollig was designated by planners as a key growth centre for the Cork Metropolitan area,” he said.

“This has actually materialised according to plan. Although this might seem like a crowded retail market, it is important to point out that Ballincollig is a large and thriving urban centre within Metropolitan Cork.”

He said large new retail entrants can sometimes cause concerns locally in relation to viability and competition.

But he said the planning process in Ireland contains one of Europe’s strictest regimes when it comes to permitting new retail development.

“The applicant would have needed to demonstrate to Cork County Council through the preparation of a Retail Impact Assessment that there was sufficient capacity in Ballincollig to accommodate the store,” he said.

“This evidence was rigorously tested through the planning process and was ultimately approved by both Cork County Council and by An Bord Pleanála.

“This is likely to drag additional spending into the town centre rather than pulling it out, which it would if it were permitted in an out-of-centre location.

The planning process “ensured that Ballincollig would not experience the type of poorly located, suburbanised greenfield retail development that has blighted many Irish towns”.

“That is why Ballincollig has such a concentration of jobs and shopping in its town centre core — and why it is probably a useful model for planning in Irish towns.”

Yesterday’s Tesco opening is the latest in a string of significant jobs boosts for the town. Boots Chemist opened in the town earlier this week creating several jobs and McDonald’s is expected to create another 60 jobs.

Asian street-food restaurant, Ramen, is also due to open a new outlet in the town centre in the coming days.