Planners sink NAMA plan to finish major city complex

Date Published: 17-May-2012

BY ENDA CUNNINGHAM

‘Toxic bank’ NAMA has dramatically been refused permission to complete the Gateway Galway shopping and residential complex off the Western Distributor Road.

The groundbreaking decision is understood to be one of the first planning refusals of its kind in the country.

The National Asset Management Agency had sought a five-year extension of time to complete the development, which is anchored by Dunnes and B&Q and commonly known as the Knocknacarra Shopping Centre.

City planners rejected the application on the grounds that 131 apartments which form part of the plan no longer meet planning guidelines.

The development site – currently a massive excavated hole in the ground – was to include more retail units, 131 apartments, a landscaped Civic Square and office space.

There were also plans for a weekend food market within the Civic Square, while a series of walkways were to link up the different areas within the development on a four-and-a-half acre site.

Earlier this year, NAMA appointed Michael Coyle and Simon Davidson of HWBC Allsop to the entire development. Because permission expires this month, the receivers subsequently sought permission for an extension of time until May 2017.

However, planners ruled: “In the intervening period, the Ministerial Guidelines ‘Sustainable Urban Development for New Apartments’ were introduced in September 2007.

“The apartments which were previously granted do not now meet the recommended minimum floor areas and standards outlined in the guidelines,” the decision reads.

Read more in today’s Galway City Tribune