A BID to develop a £15.5 million retail and entertainment complex in Enniskillen has been rejected by planning officials over concerns it will severely impact town centre trade.
Elm Grange Limited’s proposal for the former Unipork factory site includes a hotel, cinema, indoor play centre, bowling alley, five retail units and two garden centres. It also involves a coffee pod, drive-thru restaurant and a fuel station on the vacant site which lies between the South West Acute Hospital and Enniskillen’s town centre.
The company has said the venture will represent an overall investment of £15.5m, creating around 320 new jobs.
Retailers linked to the site include Brunswick Moviebowl and The Range, which had signed up to be anchor tenants.
The Range said its 35,000 sq ft department store and garden centre would create 80 jobs and represent an investment of £2.5 million.
Derry-based Brunswick Moviebowl said its plans for a six-screen cinema and bowling alley would have also created around 80 jobs and involved a minimum investment of £7m.
But the bid has proved controversial among traders in the centre of Enniskillen.
Planning officials at Fermanagh and Omagh District Council have agreed with their concerns.
A report prepared for Wednesday’s meeting of the council’s planning committee found the proposal in breach of planning policy. It recommends refusing planning permission.
According to planners: “The proposal will have a significant adverse impact on the trade and turnover of the town centre and, as a result, its vitality and viability.”
It states that the Elm Grange bid would adversely impact a similar retail scheme in the town, Station Green, which has already secured planning approval.
Officials also claim it will have a general negative impact on investor confidence in the town centre.
The report further states that the applicant had been inflexible over considering alternative sites closer to the town centre.
The businessmen behind Elm Grange Limited are Mark Curran, managing director of Co Armagh motor parts company CMP, and Frank Curran, managing director of Moy development firm Roxborough Plant & Construction.
The recommendation to refuse planning permission will be considered by the council’s planning committee on Wednesday afternoon.
