Shannon Planning Permission for Aldi lodged

opinionated3 wrote: »

Does Shannon really need this?? Ffs the town centre already looks crap from poor planning so why add to the concrete jungle feel of the place? In another thread on this forum you have people warning a person relocating from Dublin not to consider buying a property in Shannon cos the is nothing there apart from the shops. They have a point. Shannon , visually, looks horrible..... And another shopping monstrosity is only going to further cheapen the look of the place imo

Are you from Shannon?

opinionated3 wrote: »

Does Shannon really need this?? Ffs the town centre already looks crap from poor planning so why add to the concrete jungle feel of the place? In another thread on this forum you have people warning a person relocating from Dublin not to consider buying a property in Shannon cos the is nothing there apart from the shops. They have a point. Shannon , visually, looks horrible..... And another shopping monstrosity is only going to further cheapen the look of the place imo

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I look forward to being able to shop in Aldi SHannon rather than having to travel to Ennis or Limerick, so I guess it will benefit some of us.

I live and work in Shannon. I can't wait for Aldi to arrive as they have a much better range than Lidl.

I find the Aldi stores in Limerick and Ennis are in really awkward locations, with the 2 in Limerick really only serving the south east of the city.

I think the rest of Limerick will find Aldi in Shannon much handier to get to.
So if Skycourt can get it's act together with better marketing and some new shops it could benefit the town as a whole.

Everyone I have spoken to is looking forward to Aldi coming too.

As regards the "visual aesthetic" or "potential" of Shannon I think those are the same things that people from outside of Shannon always lazily throw at the town.

"Poor planning"? we hear that a lot too, but point at one thing that's missing? The town has no main street, but so what?
The town is very easy to get around on foot or in car so to my mind it's actually well planned.

If you actually look at Shannon objectively it's a fine town. We've got employment, the airport, good infrastructure, great shop choice, hotels & bars, schools, clubs, big wide open spaces, a remarkable amount of mature broadleaf trees/greenery growing everywhere, even the industrial areas have more trees/greenery than you would see normally.

There are very few towns in the country, especially in the west, that have anything like the opportunities Shannon has.

I have lived/worked in Limerick, Cork, Kerry & Dublin so I've seen what other places have to offer.

opinionated3 wrote: »

"great shop choice", "wide open spaces"...... Seriously???

Shops: Dunnes, Lidl, Dealz, Eason, Lifestyle Sports, Mace, XL, Supermacs, Subway, Apache, Nosh & Coffee, Pharmacies, Insomnia, Topaz, Texaco, Hair Salons, Barbers, Hardware & Clothing, Chinese Restaurants, Indian Restaurants, takeaways etc.
Aldi & Iceland on the way.

Does your hometown have anything like that choice?

Wide open spaces: The town is full of mature trees/green areas, parks, walks, playing fields.

If you just look with open eyes/mind rather than a wannabe critic you'll see them.

opinionated3 wrote: »

Then why do the majority of persons living in Newmarket, Smb etc choose to go to Limerick or Ennis for their weekly shop? Why are a lot of young home buyers choosing to leave Shannon rather than purchase in the town? I stand by my original statement. The town centre LOOKS horrible. It's not one bit enticing..

The majority of people in Newmarket SMB etc. choose Limerick or Ennis for shopping?!
How can you speak for so many people? Do you know the majority of people in those towns? Have you done a pole? :rolleyes:

A lot of young buyers choosing to leave Shannon rather than purchase in the town?
What is your source for that statement?

Young people often leave their hometown to find a life, I'm certain Shannon has no more people leaving than similar towns throughout the world.

The town centre looks horrible?
It's a shopping centre FFS! Name an attractive shopping centre?

All of your statements are nothing but anecdotal, uninformed opinions. Standing by them is standing on loose ground.

opinionated3 wrote: »

Fair enough.... You think Shannon is some sort of utopia......I think it could be so much better. Let's move on.

:rolleyes:

FFS I don't think it's a utopia. Where did I say that?
It's not as bad as you make out, nowhere near.

Try a bit of objectivity and less hyperbole.

Everywhere could be better.

Where do you live?

opinionated3 wrote: »

I am being objective. The town centre LOOKS awful imo. It has never looked well. The tower block is an eyesore. The section where the now closed Darcy's pub looks dreadful also. The are multiple empty shopping kiosks in the centre itself. Some of the shops you mentioned are piss poor eg lifestyle must be the worst stocked in Ireland. Dunnes, easons and moloneys are the only ones worth time visiting. The area behind the old Quinn's worth is awful too.... It's so bad they have to hide it behind the long mound of earth so you can't see it from the road. My point about planning still stands. It's because of poor planning that its potential is not reached.... Everything's an afterthought and a new Aldi isn't going to change that.
I don't live in a town therefore where I live is inconsequential to this topic

You're not being objective, nowhere near.

Your analysis of the whole town comes down to an angry rant about how the shopping centre looks. Buildings are ugly, they always are.
The back of a store hurts your eyes?! lol Get over it.

Lifestyle Sports is poorly stocked? FFS grow up, what have you compared it to? Online I 'spose? Or bigger stores? lol really objective...

Your point on planning is not valid. You're not qualified to comment and you're just looking to be critical to look clever. It's not working.

The area where Aldi is going was always zoned for future commercial development, so how is that an "afterthought"?

To uninformed people new development always looks like an "afterthought" because you're only seeing it after it's built.

Have you looked at the town plan?
The long-term plan is to pull the commercial "centre of gravity" away from Skycourt and over to the area where Aldi is going. So that's a first step.

opinionated3 wrote: »

Buildings are always ugly????wtf!! Also your comment about lifestyle is ridiculous. I prefer to shop local cos I realise I'm supporting local jobs. I was in the shop last Saturday looking for a gift for my nephew's birthday. Poor stock when compared to lifestyle in the crescent and anything I thought was suitable weren't in his size. So I ended up heading in to Limerick once again. I fail to see what exactly you feel Aldi is going to bring to the equation... If anything it will hurt the footfall that exists in the sky court. Why relocate the sky court to across the road? And who is magically going to pay for all of this? I'd wager I won't see much of this"plan" in my lifetime

So because a small Lifestyle Sports shop didn't have what you're looking for it's crap?! LOL really objective...

They're not relocating Skycourt. People in Shannon have been saying for years that they want a "main street" so the LONG TERM PLAN is to push development into the area where Aldi is going, to eventually have a "main street".

I don't happen to agree with it but that's the LONG TERM PLAN that was created in consultation with town residents.

I don't think they were worried about an online wannabe critic's lifetime when they came up with it.

opinionated3 wrote: »

......In your opinion.

They are valid in my opinion.

There was no rant, just observations which for some reason you seem to get defensive about. Touched a nerve did it??

And don't call me uninformed again. You know nothing about me..

You're uninformed when it comes to Shannon. I know that.

tv221 wrote: »

Don't know how well decisions to refuse will stand up if appealed. Can be located
http://www.clarecoco.ie/idocswebDPSS/ViewFiles.aspx?docid=390830&format=jpeg

It's widely known that Clare Co co desired use of this land "mixed use", would be another bru na sionna with a few more ground floor shops. Most would agree the problem with Shannon is too many high density housing developments already. Not in the councils opinion though, as is clear in area plans.

Each other area : Newmarket, sixmilebridge, Quinn etc is designated low density housing. Shannon is only high density.

I live in Shannon and I would not agree that there are too many high density housing developments.

Shannon is mostly low density housing with a few high density areas.

Much of the current national housing crisis is caused by too little high density housing so it's definitely needed, even in Shannon.

The refusal of planning permission were down to 3 things; 1. Design 2. Incompatibility with Town Plan for that Area & 3. Pedestrian Safety.

Points 1 & 3 could be resolved but I don't think point 2 can be.

It would appear that Aldi need to find a new location outside of that area.

Perhaps the new theatre "The Venue" could swap their land for the Aldi land? Keeping Aldi on the Skycourt site might make more sense...