Galway Shopping Centre plans for new business rejected
Permission had been sought for a change of use at the old Atlantic Homecare unit in the Shopping Centre
Another Galway Shopping Centre business plan has been rejected by the council just one month after Starbucks’ drive-thru application was axed.
Plans for a Padel Court, which would have gone into a former garden centre store which now lies empty, were not put forward by Galway City Council.
Back in September, permission was asked to change the use of what used to be Atlantic Homecare into the much loved new sports craze which has seen a spike in recent years.
In October, Starbucks’ planning permission application for a drive-thru has been rejected by Galway City Council over traffic concerns.
These are the same concerns which were raised by Galway Commuter Coalition who argued that it was the wrong type of development for the shopping centre saying traffic is already bad and that this will only make it worse.
Their petition garnered well over a two thousand votes across a two month period.
Koztello's hair salon and the neighbouring unit, which had a variety of retailers in recent years, was planned to be overhauled into a large cafe with a drive-through hatch on the other side of Supermacs alongside a new substation to support twelve electric vehicle parking spaces.
Back in August, the Galway Commuter Coalition said: “Does Galway need another Starbucks? Another drive-thru in an already congest area? We don’t think so.
“We’re starting a petition and lodging an objection to this development in the hopes of stopping further congestion to Galway’s traffic.”
They continued: “Here’s why we’re objecting to it. Starbucks wants to open a drive-thru right next to the Supermac’s drive-thru. We think this is the wrong kind of development.
“The junction has some of the worst traffic in Galway, the last thing we need is more of it. This is too central for car-only development. It is only 650 metres away from Eyre Square. A site that’s a distance of only 4.5x GAA pitches away should do more, we need efficient development here.”
Starbucks’ plans follow the recent unveiling of Nando's, the Portuguese chicken chain, which opened in the long defunct Bodkin Point Asian buffet.
A lot of units have closed in the last two years at the Headford Road complex - Ashford Collection, DK Shoes, Newspoint and the two Born units for women and menswear have all pulled their shutters permanently.
One retailer told Galway Live the older tenants, such as Penneys, Tesco's, Matt O'Flaherty, Cunniffe's, Eason, Sarah's Boutique, are all likely to be operating on set leases which cannot be broken without mutual consent.
The newer tenants are only being offered licences to operate, which can be cancelled with just a few weeks' notice by the management company.
“I'm here 30 years and I've never had a problem with the management to be honest. When my lease was up it was renewed without an issue,” revealed the Galway Shopping Centre retailer, who asked not to be named.
"But I know not many of the units have leases anymore, they are only being offered licences, which means they can put you out if they want to join units together or if they have a particular operator they want to open here.
“With the cost of rent, rates, staff, energy rises, it's very hard to survive in retail. So, I'm not surprised the bigger chains are moving in and smaller independent businesses are closing down.”
The Planet Entertainment Centre opened its major new expansion into adjacent vacant retail spaces within the complex.
Pamela Scott, Carraig Donn and Cex Entertainment are all recent arrivals while a new nail bar, C&T Central Nails, opened in March beside Kozzy's Barbers.