by Bernie English bernie@limerickpost.ie
LIMERICK city councillors want to be kept in the loop when it comes to developments such as the Opera Centre and the Horizon Mall.
At their monthly meeting last Monday, members of the Metropolitan District council asked for a briefing on the Horizon Mall project that was approved by An Bord Pleanála after the local authority voted against granting planning permission for the abandoned development site on the Dublin Road.
Cllr Maurice Quinlivan (SF) said the decision was “of concern to a lot of people. The planning permission says that it has to be completed by 2016 and I don’t think you could build a house in that time”.
Cllr James Collins (FF) said that the decision called into question the local authority’s policy to rejuvenate the city centre by attracting business and people in.
“Our policy isn’t having the effect we had hoped it would and it seems Bord Pleanála does not agree with it. If it’s not working, we need to know why and we need an update and questions answered”.
Cllr James Butler (FF) said he had seen the first tangible consequences of the decision to grant planning permission for the Horizon Mall.
“I was speaking to a property owner in town who had two people interested in leasing units and as soon as they heard about this decision, they withdrew”, he said.
