COUNCIL WILL BE HOPING IT WON’T BE DEJA VU AT WINE ST
NEW PLAN TO BE UNVEILED TWENTY ONE YEARS AFTER THE LAST ONE UNVEILED
IT was called the Centre Block Master Plan for Sligo, a supposed retail par excellence earmarked for Wine Street Car Park since 1999 but not one block was laid and the controversial Treasury Holdings project was put out of its misery after being tossed about for ten years.
Now, it appears council officials want to reassess what to do with Sligo’s main car park. At one stage there were plans by Dunnes to expand and the centre piece was to incorporate a new shopping centre with pedestrian walkways to adjoining streets with up to 2,000 car parking spaces at one stage being mooted throught a multi-storey car park.
The only development that took place in the area was the Johnston Court one with Dunnes Penneys and Tesco not proceeding with plans, though the latter had wanted to build on a new site at Carraroe, a proposals which also fell by the wayside with plenty of objections not least of which was the fact it was against the city’s retail strategy of developing from the core outwards.
Back in 1999, the Centre Block was heralded as the one project which would make Sligo stand out as capital of the North West. It was on the agenda of every monthly meeting of the Borough Council for updates and there were plenty of presentations from the preferred developers, Treasury Holdings but the project never got off the ground despite many promises.
Treasury Holdings, which had acquired properties in the car park, was subsequently liquidated. In the end, the car park itself was brought back into the ownership of the council.
Three years ago a meeting of the county council was told by Director of Services, Tom Kilfeather that the Council had concluded negotiations in respect of the last remaining interest to be acquired within the Wine Street car park.
“The Council will proceed without delay to have the car park lands vested in the Council’s name,” he said in response to queries from Councillor Declan Bree.
There hasn’t been much of an update since but this week, the council is taking a look once more at what can be done with the car park, which incidentally, recently underwent major resurfacing.
The Planning Section of Sligo County Council has commenced what it says is the preparation of a master-plan for the and has engaged consultants Building Design Partnership (BDP) to develop the plan.
The aim of the new plan, say the council, will be to guide the re-development of this area into a vibrant addition to the existing commercial core of Sligo.
The BDP team, led by Landscape Architect
Mehron Kirk and Architect/Regeneration Expert Sebastien Pollet, will carry out an initial stakeholder consultation, this evening, Tuesday 14 th January 2020 at 6.30pm in the Council Chamber, City Hall.
And, there seems to be a link with the past in the council’s thinking with an eye on creating a new plan for the area.
It says that the Masterplan prepared for the area in 1999 had established a set of principles to govern the future development of the area.
“Its purpose was to create a clear framework under which developers, traders and retailers could invest with certainty with regard to land use, design and other planning considerations.
“The Centre Block Master Plan proposed the location of large-scale retail development combined with multi-storey car parking.
“The Plan highlighted the importance of the creation of a high quality urban environment.
“In order to create an attractive and successful public realm for the pedestrian, all bulk servicing of the commercial units was to be from Adelaide Street only.
“Since 1999, several developments have been permitted by the planning authority in compliance with the provisions of the Masterplan.
“However, to date, only one of these permissions has been implemented (Johnston Court).
“Having regard to the time that has elapsed since the CBMP was originally prepared and the limited quantum of new development that has occurred, Sligo County Council consider it necessary to review the provisions of the Plan in light of current planning and economic circumstances. The council aims to:
1. Review of the existing Centre Block Masterplan and the extent of implementation to date.
2. Consultation with relevant landowners, existing traders, the elected members and the public
3. The preparation of a new Centre Block Masterplan which provides a viable framework for the development of this block into a vibrant addition to the existing commercial core of Sligo. The new masterplan should encourage the provision of a range of exciting commercial and residential experiences.
In accordance with the National Planning Framework’s strategic outcome of compact growth, the redevelopment of this area is seen as a unique opportunity to enhance the overall attractiveness of Sligo City Centre as a place to live and work and promote the city as a regional and national shopping and holiday destination, according to the council.
Its language which was used before in 1999 when the idea was first suggested for the area.
Everyone, public and politicians became weary very quickly with the manner in which the first plan proceeded and it took the counciil over a decade to extricate themselves from the preferred developer.
While there’s a new council now in place, there’s still enough of the old guard about as they say to remember the disaster Treasury and its Centre Block plan became and it should certainly not happen a second time.