Planners give green light to Kells town centre project

The major Kells Backlands project - a €125 million plan to develop a new town square, major shopping centre, housing, creche and library in the centre of the town - has been given the green light by Kells Town Council. The planning authority approved the planning for the project and notices were going out to the interested parties yesterday (Tuesday) evening. There are 82 conditions attached to the planning permission. If the project proposed by Kells Development Company goes ahead, up to 350 construction jobs and 400 permanent positions could be created. A revised planning application was submitted by the firm last August. That plan built upon the previous draft and 'responded positively to feedback and requests made by the relevant sectors of the county council and the wider public', company spokesman Alan McEntee had said. The original Backlands proposal had been rejected by Meath County Council planners in 2007. Consultations then ensued and these went on for a year. A factor in the applications was the amount of support the project got from Kells Town Council members of all parties, and the town"s Chamber of Commerce. Now that planning permission haas been granted, it is estimated that the town centre would take two years to build. However, a decision still has to be made about the future of the project considering that the downturn in the economy has intervened. The planning permission lasts for 10 years from the date of sanction. The company has said that the mixed use of retail, commercial and residential elements would greatly enhance the quality of life for the people of Kells and the surrounding area, 'bringing the best of facilities, both civic and commercial, to their doorstep'. The Kells Development Company comprises Lagan Developments, Finbarr McLoughlin/MCL Properties and Cusack Homes. Lagan Developments is part of the Lagan Group, the major quarrying and construction firm, which has 1,500 employees across its operations here and in the UK. Mr McLoughlin lives in Kells and his firm, MCL Properties, has developed numerous projects in England and the US. Its best known developments are Old Balreask Woods, Navan, and Headfort Demesne, Kells. Cusack Homes is a family-owned firm set up by Marie and the late John Cusack, which owns Knightsbrook Hotel and Golf Resort and the Castle Arch Hotel, Trim, as well as Navan"s Newgrange and Ardboyne Hotels. Among the conditions attached to the granting of planning permission are a requirement on the applicant/developer to construct the section of the local distributor link road, inclusive of the reconfiguration and signalisation of the Farrell Street/Bective Street/ Bective Square/Suffolk Street junction, and that the applicant/developer must initially bear the full cost of these works. The applicant/developer has also to instal a 1,500mm diameter surface water culvert downstream from the proposed development but this cannot take place until the completion of the M3 motorway, and will have to take place outside school term time. Proposed landscaping for the 'Stream Park" submitted by the applicant is not permitted under today"s planning permission and revised proposals will have to be put to Kells Town Council in respect of this.