Planners reject €30m shopping complex anchored by Tesco and Decathlon

An Bord Pleanála has turned down plans for a €30 million shopping complex off the Western Distributor Road in Knocknacarra – ruling that it would be “deficient and substandard in quality” and could be a traffic hazard.

Last year, project backers Lioncor Developments – a company ultimately owned by Alanis Capital and the US vulture fund Oaktree Capital, which also owns Gateway Retail Park on the opposite side of the Western Distributor Road – sought permission to develop ‘Kingston Cross’, to be anchored by Tesco and sports retail giant Decathlon.

When Galway City Council planners turned down the proposal, the development company, 1 Kingston Land Ltd, appealed to An Bord Pleanála, accusing the Council of resisting any form of development on the lands and claimed feedback they received was “not fit for purpose”.

In a scathing attack on city planners, the design team for Kingston Cross told An Bord Pleanála there was a “hostile reception” to their proposals for the 17-acre greenfield site opposite Aldi and the new Lidl.

And they said that at a meeting with city planners prior to lodging the planning application, some people present admitted they had only just looked at the plans that morning.

In response, the Council outlined Aa number of pertinent facts”, including that a single pre-planning meeting was held online and planners issued their comments to the developer on April 29, 2021.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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