Kilkenny and Waterford await judicial review hearing on Ferrybank Shopping Centre
Director of Services with Kilkenny County Council, Ian Gardner, stated that the local authority is “prepared to defend to the greatest possible extent” their decision to grant permission for the redevelopment of Ferrybank Shopping Centre
The fate of the proposed redevelopment of Ferrybank Shopping Centre on the Kilkenny-Waterford border could be sealed this week.
A judicial review hearing is scheduled to take place tomorrow (Thursday) on June 11, and the current expectation is that the outcome will be delivered shortly afterwards.
Representation from Kilkenny County Council will be present at the hearing, according to a council spokesperson.
In August of last year, Kilkenny County Council granted planning permission for the redevelopment of part of the unoccupied shopping centre.
This decision permitted the change of use and amalgamation of units to form a new anchor store of 3,000 square metres (sqm) net of convenience floorspace and 2,042 sqm net of comparison floorspace, alongside a new leisure unit of 3,140 sqm.
Waterford City and County Council had raised strong concerns with the proposal in a submission to Kilkenny County Council, dated August 1, warning that the scale of the development had ‘the clear potential to function as a standalone retail destination, thereby undermining the vitality and viability of Waterford City centre’.
Following Kilkenny’s decision to approve the planning application, WCCC moved to appeal the decision to An Coimisiún Pleanála.
The appeal was later ruled to be ‘invalid’ because it did not meet a key legal requirement under the Planning and Development Act.
In relation to this, Kilkenny Live understands that WCCC’s appeal to An Coimisiún Pleanála on September 22 did not include the acknowledgement of its original submission.
Asked for comment at the time, WCCC declined, responding only that it “is not in a position to comment on this matter.”
Subsequently, WCCC opted to pursue a legal approach in relation to the proposed redevelopment in the form of a judicial review.
Judicial review is a legal process where a court examines the decisions, actions, or omissions of public bodies. Its primary focus is to determine whether the decision was made lawfully and fairly, rather than to judge the correctness of the decision itself.
HISTORY OF THE SITE
Ferrybank Shopping Centre was built in 2008 at a cost of approximately €100 million, but the centre never opened fully, leaving most of the development vacant, save for a library and a county council office.
For over a decade, the site was the centre of a legal dispute between Dunnes Stores, who were originally signed on as the anchor tenant, and Deerland Construction Ltd, a company that transferred the loans for the building to NAMA.
Back in March of 2023, it was revealed that Dunnes Stores purchased and now have ownership of the centre.
In January 2024, Dunnes Stores agreed to meet with Kilkenny County Council to discuss the site’s future and its role in the emerging Ferrybank/Belview masterplan.
Council officials later confirmed that Dunnes had engaged with the masterplan and had started to participate in discussions - with a view to redeveloping the shopping centre.
Their proposed redevelopment application is the application at the centre of this disagreement between the local authorities in Kilkenny and Waterford.
Director of Services with Kilkenny County Council, Ian Gardner, previously stated that Kilkenny are “prepared to defend to the greatest possible extent” their decision to grant the development permission.
RECENT TENSION
Councillors in the Piltown Municipal District in South Kilkenny have long been pushing for action on the shopping centre.
They have strongly criticised Waterford’s objection to the development, and are hopeful of a positive outcome.
At last week’s district meeting, held in Ferrybank library (situated literally in the shadow of the Ferrybank Shopping Centre), Cllr Ger Frisby remained upbeat.
He told fellow elected members it would be positive to have the redevelopment of the centre back on the monthly agenda soon, and that hopefully it’ll be “full steam ahead, fingers crossed.”