Balbriggan to get €55m shopping centre

Benjy

From todays Irish Times

BALBRIGGAN IN north Co Dublin is to get a major shopping centre as part of the first phase of a mixed-use development.

An Bord Pleanála has endorsed last February's decision by Fingal County Council to grant permission for the €55 million scheme which will form the key connection between the existing town centre and its expanding areas to the west. The development is expected to greatly enhance the retail and leisure facilities of a town that has failed to keep pace with its fast-growing population.

The promoters, Parkway Partnership, say that the initial phase will create up to 450 new jobs and provide the core of a much wider development on the surrounding lands including leisure, residential, office, restaurants, community uses and civic spaces.

Tesco is understood to have agreed purchase terms for the 9,500sq m (102,257sq ft) anchor store which will trade over two internal street levels. The 14,500sq m (156,077sq ft) shopping centre will also accommodate 30 retail units, a large food court, medical centre and leisure centre.

Top architects AD Wejchert has capitalised on the natural gradient of the site to create a scheme which will have both car parks and pedestrian entrances directly serving both street levels, ensuring a balanced distribution of customers across the centre.

The design also takes maximum advantage of the high natural light levels from the 110-metre long curving glazed street which will form the spine of the new centre.

The scheme will benefit from the upgrading of the adjoining road network and will have three direct access points - allowing rapid access from the town centre and nearby roads including the M1. The initial phase will include two large civic plazas which will provide a focus for the wider development of the surrounding lands.

The developers of the new centre are obviously heartened by the 2006 census findings which showed that Balbriggan was the fastest growing "large town" in Ireland with a 51 per cent increase in population in the preceding four years.

Stephen Murray of letting agent Jones Lang LaSalle attributes the rapid growth to "affordability and accessibility" - the latter because of the excellent transport links provided by the M1 and the direct rail link to Dublin. The catchment growth rate has outstripped the national average by a factor of three over the last decade and is set to increase further with population projections within the critical 20-minute drive time set to move to over 113,000 by the year 2012.

Fingal County Council's recent decision to grant planning permission for 1,057 new homes on a site adjacent to the Parkway development will help to meet future demands. Plans to develop Bremore Port immediately north of Balbriggan to provide the deepest shipping berths on the east coast will also give a major boost to the area. A plan to have a full Dart service was also promised under Transport 21 but, like many other projects, will probably be delayed because of the current economic slowdown.

Savills HOK will be joint letting agent for the Balbriggan scheme. Parkway's directors are Michael McDonald, Tom Gilligan, Timothy Keane, John McCabe and Ray McGowan.

paulie13

At least there will be a decent Tesco in Balbriggan!

bikki

I like the sound of a medical centre and leisure centre.

Chinafoot

Yeah. Think I'd prefer to hear about a few schools though

wow sierra

3 new school premises this year - not bad I reckon. The two educate together schools and the Gaelscoil got lovely new premises.

Of course that didn't get the national media attention we got last year when we were looking for premises.

Chinafoot

wow sierra wrote: »

3 new school premises this year - not bad I reckon. The two educate together schools and the Gaelscoil got lovely new premises.

Of course that didn't get the national media attention we got last year when we were looking for premises.

Yeah I agree thats great, but what happens when those kids get out of primary school? The secondary school situation isn't good in Fingal.

The plans for the centre do sound very good though. As another poster said, we could do with a decent Tesco. The one we have now needs a serious upgrade. 450 new jobs is wonderful news for the town.

Africa

Sounds good Where abouts is it going? Hope they get some good shops in.

Wonder will this one replace the tesco in the town?

Bluetonic

Chinafoot wrote: »

Yeah I agree thats great, but what happens when those kids get out of primary school? The secondary school situation isn't good in Fingal.

Ardgillan Community School is opening in August 09 with 350 places, which will rise to 1,000. Located at the back of Wavin.

Bluetonic

bikki wrote: »

I like the sound of a medical centre and leisure centre.

If there was a market for one don't you think the one already granted planning for along Hamlet Lane would be built?

RobFowl

In the present climate I'll believe it when I see it!!

Bluetonic

RobFowl wrote: »

In the present climate I'll believe it when I see it!!

It's a 10 year planning permission.

Moonbeam

More local facilities won't do the town any harm and more local jobs is brilliant.
As for the schools issue it is a lot better then it was last year and there are now loads of primary schools in Balbriggan,it is good news to hear there will be a new secondary school soon too.
250 places sounds tiny to me though.

paulie13

Bit more detail about the shopping center here: http://images3.daft.ie/commercial/30000/36092/555(1x1).pdf

BroomBurner

Thanks for posting that Paullie, I was wondering where they were planning on putting it.

I like the look of it. I also think there is definitely a need for a decent leisure centre in Balbriggan (I've no kids, so don't come at me with the schools thing). The only gym is the one above the community centre, which isn't great. Also, for decent clothes shopping, there is always a car journey, either to Swords to Drogheda. A decent out-patient medical centre would also be a bonus, if that's what it's to be, as opposed to just another GP surgery.

Ten years is a long time, but for anyone that bought their house in Balbriggan, at least with the construction of this, and the development of Bremore Port and the (now delayed) expansion of the DART to the town, prices should stabilise in the medium term.

Bluetonic

Moonbeam wrote: »

More local facilities won't do the town any harm and more local jobs is brilliant.

This new shopping center will harm the old center of the town, which already has little or no shops outside of grocery shops and bookies. The majority of jobs it brings will be minimum pay jobs unfortunately.

Moonbeam wrote: »

As for the schools issue it is a lot better then it was last year and there are now loads of primary schools in Balbriggan,it is good news to hear there will be a new secondary school soon too.

A brand new secondary school for Balbriggan is set to swing open its doors and welcome students for the first time in September of next year following confirmation from the Department of Education that the project is to go ahead. September 2009 is the target date for the opening of the new 1,000 student secondary school for the North Fingal town run by the CDVEC and called Ardgillan Community College. That was the news from the Department of Education late last week when the Minister for Education announced that the major new secondary school would open next year.

The college will be located on the Castlelands campus and phase one will cater for 350 pupils, rising to 1,000 pupils.

Minister for Food and Horticulture, Trevor Sargent TD, together with his colleagues, Cllr Stephen Kilgallon and Cllr Joe Corr, welcomed the announcement.

'My collagues Stephen Kilgallon and Joe Corr who represent the Balbriggan Town Council and Balbriggan Ward areas respectively and I are delighted that, with the establishment of this new college, much needed post primary places will be provided for Dublin North,' Minister Sargent. 'We hope the department can continue to identify and deliver extra school places elsewhere in the North county which is expanding at a rapid rate.'

Local Fianna Fáil TDs, Michael Kennedy and Darragh O'Brien welcomed the project and said they understood that the department is working closely with the County Dublin VEC to ensure that appropriate accommodation is available to allow the community college to open in 2009.

'This college will play an important role in catering for the rise in enrolments and will provide approximately 1,000 post primary places in Fingal,' Deputy Kennedy said.

Fingleberries

Does anyone have a link to the application on Fingal Co Co web site? I could only see a pre-application from 2005 but that doesn't have any plans or documentation really.

Update: Thanks for the info Paulie ...

Bluetonic

BroomBurner wrote: »

I also think there is definitely a need for a decent leisure centre in Balbriggan (I've no kids, so don't come at me with the schools thing). The only gym is the one above the community centre, which isn't great.

There is planning granted for two leisure centers already in the town, one is under construction whilst the other is for sale. It's debatable whether three or more could be sustained in the town. Hopefully at least two will be membership only with a high enough charge to keep out the scum.

BroomBurner wrote: »

Ten years is a long time, but for anyone that bought their house in Balbriggan, at least with the construction of this, and the development of Bremore Port and the (now delayed) expansion of the DART to the town, prices should stabilise in the medium term.

You won't see the Port (legal issues) or DART (funding issues) for 20 years if even.

BroomBurner

Bluetonic wrote: »

There is planning granted for two leisure centers already in the town, one is under construction whilst the other is for sale. It's debatable whether three or more could be sustained in the town. Hopefully at least two will be membership only with a high enough charge to keep out the scum.

Good, maybe this news will put more of a fire up their arses and get them built sooner (the original ones).

Bluetonic wrote: »

You won't see the Port (legal issues) or DART (funding issues) for 20 years if even.

Hence why I used the phrase "medium term"

BroomBurner

http://www.wejchert.ie/project_images.php?projectId=23&parentId=3

Another (less useful) link to the same stuff

Bluetonic

BroomBurner wrote: »

Hence why I used the phrase "medium term"

Some of those house your referring too might even exist in your medium term.

The council needs to go further than its legal obligations to help people on a Balbriggan estate that have discovered ‘structural faults’ in their homes.

Speaking at a Balbriggan/ Swords area committee meeting, Cllr Clare Daly (SP)said residents in Martello Estate had been given a ‘pretty raw deal’ since structural damage was uncovered in a number of homes on the estate.

The Socialist Party councillor claimed there had been issues with moisture content in the timber frames of some of the homes on the estate.

She blamed the laying of footpaths that took surface water to the homes instead of away from them as the underlying problem.

Legal

Cllr Daly said the issue was something the council had to ‘monitor very carefully’ and said that a number of residents had taken it upon themselves to compile files on the issue with a view to a possible legal action.

Cllr Joe Corr (GP) said that a low vent in the affected houses was a contributory factor to the problem. The council’s building enforcement section is monitoring the problem but the council says the primary responsibility for the problem lies with the developer.

The council says that Newlyn Development, who built the estate were obliged to build the development in compliance with building regulations.

The homes are insured under the Builder’s Premier Guarantee Scheme and if the developer does not take responsibility for the issue, residents should approach the scheme, according to Joe Boyle, senior executive engineer in the council’s building control section.

Fingal County Council, in a written report on the issue said that the developers ‘have taken responsibility in relation to this matter and they are currently dealing with various structural faults on a one-toone basis with the property owners in the Martello estate development’.

Cllr Daly said regardless of what legal obligations the council had, it should get involved in the situation to help out the affected home owners, many of whom are ‘hard pressed, first-time buyers’.

She said it had been a ‘stressful’ time for the homeowners and they had been treated ‘harshly’ over the issue.

darraghjm

Bluetonic wrote: »

There is planning granted for two leisure centers already in the town, one is under construction whilst the other is for sale. It's debatable whether three or more could be sustained in the town. Hopefully at least two will be membership only with a high enough charge to keep out the scum.quote]

hi,

I was just wondering where abouts in balbriggan these are, i heard there might be one in the balbriggan business campus, but haven't seen anything mentioned on its website. its certinaly something the town needs.

Bluetonic

One where you mention on the Balbriggan Campus (planning permission was given for the development to be completed fully, including the retail and commercial). The planning permission is available online.

The other is a site up off Hamlet Lane, developer is trying to sell the site with full planning. No one is interested in it.

Bluetonic

Just to add to this O'Dwyer have planning for a large facility across the road from their current spot, along with Balbriggan Rugby Club planning a pool and gym with public access as far as I know.

Skerries Swimming Pool has nearly secured finding too from what I've read, the project in the Ballast Pit may start soon.

Contract documents are being prepared for the long-awaited swimming pool facility in Skerries, the Dáil has been told.

A site at the Ballast Pit has been earmarked for the project, which campaigners have been seeking for over a decade.

There are four principal stages in a swimming pool project following the submission of a feasibility study.

These, in order of progress, are preliminary report, contract documents, tender and construction.

In response to a Dáil question, Minister for Sports, Martin Cullen, said that the priority now was to work with the relevant local authorities in order to bring the remaining projects, including Skerries, to fruition.

Grant aid is allocated only when tenders have been approved for the project and is capped at the time of allocation. The department and its technical advisors, the OPW, evaluate each stage and local authorities cannot proceed to the next stage of a project unless prior approval issues from the department

Under the Local Authority Swimming Pool Programme, which is administered by the department, grant aid to a maximum of € 3.8 million is provided, subject in both cases to the total grant not exceeding 80% of the eligible cost of the project or, in the case of projects located in disadvantaged areas, 90% of the eligible cost

All these pools, gym and other facilities should counter balance the fast food outlets.

darraghjm

from what i hear the o'dwyers project may never happen or if it does it will have to be completly scaled down. i was looking on http://www.balbrigganbusinesscampus.ie/
but i couldn't see anything about there definetly being a gym, i'm a member of jackie skellys(you never know it to see me) and i'm fed up driving up to swords to use it.
cheers for the info man

Bluetonic

Wasn't the O'Dwyers project dependent on the sale of the old ground for development?

The one granted planning looks a bit ambitious for Balbriggan anyhow to be honest.

Hopefully they don't drop the gym from the Campus, it's probably just being built in phases. (finger crossed)