Go-ahead given for major expansion of Liffey Valley

PROPERTY group Hines secured planning permission for a €135 million major extension to the Liffey Valley shopping centre – despite opposition from The Square in Tallaght and the Moriarty retail and hotel group, which operates a SuperValu in nearby Palmerstown.

Last April, South Dublin County Council granted permission but The Square lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanála, arguing the proposal was “wholly unsustainable and a continuation of an outdated car-based, 1980s-style mall template”.

On behalf of The Square, Downey Planning stated that the extension “offers a staggering amount of new retail floor space and the total will be over 120,000 sq m compared to just over 22,000 sq m” when Liffey Valley was first built in 1997.

However, ABP concluded that the scheme would constitute an appropriate form of development and would not be contrary to the retail policy as set out in the council’s development plan.

In their submission to South Dublin County Council, the Square Management Ltd said the proposed increase at Liffey Valley “will have a major impact” on the Tallaght retail centre.

The company told the council that the proposed extension of Liffey Valley “will not only entice customers away from the Square town centre, it will also have a cannibalisation effect on retailers currently trading within the Square, which will have a detrimental economic effect on retailers and their staff and consequently the vitality of the town centre in Tallaght.”

The Square company also claimed that the Hines proposal “would only serve to undermine the existing town centre of Tallaght and the proposed retail components of both Adamstown and Clonburris”.

The Moriarty retail and hotel group also told the council that it had “serious concerns” concerning aspects of the Hines proposal including “an over-supply of car-parking spaces” in the plans.

First lodged in March 2020, the plans seek to provide a contemporary mixed leisure, entertainment and retail extension to Liffey Valley that is to be centred on a large public plaza and creating a new east-west street at the centre.

The extension is to be anchored by two large retail units to either side of the public plaza.

A retail impact assessment lodged with the planning application stated that the extension would deliver an additional €128.65 million in retail revenues for Liffey Valley centre by 2025.