Decathlon developers failed to take Galway City Council concerns on board

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – Galway City Council has rejected plans for a new retail and residential development off the Western Distributor Road – which was to be anchored by Tesco and Decathlon – branding the design as “poor” and warning it would cause a traffic hazard.

The local authority said it had previously expressed concerns about the plans to the applicants, but these had not been taken on board when drawing up the planning application.

1 Kingston Land Ltd, which is ultimately owned by Alanis Capital and the US vulture fund Oaktree Capital, had sought permission to build what they termed an ‘urban village’ on a 17-acre site beside the Altan apartments and opposite Aldi.

The plan for Kingston Cross included a retail centre, anchored by Tesco and sports retailer Decathlon, as well as nine smaller shop units, a café/restaurant, medical units, a covered sports court and a civic plaza.

In its decision to refuse permission for the development, the Council said that it would be premature pending the agreement of an overall layout for the area and would result in a “poor urban form”.

Council planners noted that at a meeting ahead of the planning application being drawn up, it was pointed out to the applicants that the development would not be acceptable as initially indicated, yet the layout in the application was “identical”.

“The Council had many pre-planning consultations with previous owners of these lands over an extended period of time, in excess of 15 years, where engagement was central to the process, all in an attempt to achieve the best resolution for the site with a mixed-use scheme and in compliance with the City Development Plan.

“The aims, objectives and comments of the [Council] have remained the same with regards to the delivery of a sustainable urban village in this location.

“This current proposal, as previously highlighted, has not had regard to the legacy of this historic engagement and council input to the form and layout of any proposed development on these lands,” Council planners said.
This is a shortened preview version of this article. To read the rest of the story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.