Council queries major Mr Price warehouse expansion proposal in Cornamaddy

Plans for a significant expansion to the warehouse facilities of a leading discount retail chain at its Athlone premises have been put on hold by Westmeath County Council pending the receipt of further information.

Corajio ULC, trading as Mr. Price, submitted a planning application to the Westmeath local authority in November for an extension to the warehouse facilities at the firm's distribution base in Cornamaddy.

The works would include new loading areas for goods coming in and out of the facility, along with an increase in the height of the existing warehouse building.

The planning documents state that the proposed works would be carried out in three phases, with the first phase involving a new goods-in area, including loading bays and a new covered area for loading and unloading trucks.

Phase two and and three works would include the development of a new “high-bay storage facility with a “stock-transfer link” to the existing warehouse and a new goods-out area with loading bays to the front of the existing warehouse.

The plans also seek the reconfiguration of traffic and parking facilities, the demolition of plant rooms and unused detached office buildings, signage and all associated site works.

In a request for further information, which issued on December 17, Westmeath County Council has outlined 12 issues to be addressed by the the applicants, including the issue of compliance with the zoning objectives of the area.

The council states that the planning history of the site relates to a “manufacturing/ industrial use” and points out that it is the opinion of the planning authority that subsequent permissions “have not altered the nature” of this authorised factory use.

The council points out that the current application describes the development as an existing warehouse, but adds that “there is no record of any planning permission for this use.”

By reason of its “scale, intensity and operational focus” the council states that the proposed development “cannot reasonably be considered a continuation of the original factory use” but rather, would result in “the intensification of an unauthorised warehouse and distribution use.”

The applicants are asked to address each of the points raised by the submission of a comprehensive Planning Statement.

The applicants have also been asked to submit projected staffing levels associated with the expanded facility, including a breakdown of full and part-time employees; proposed hours of operation, including the specific hours of operation of loading bays having regard to the proximity of “nearby residential properties” tand he current and anticipated daily and weekly HGV movements arising from the proposed development, among other issues.

With regard to design, the council has asked the applicants to submit an “alternative design solution” for the proposed development which is aimed at reducing the “perceived scale, massing and monotony” of the building.

With an approximate height of 17.5m and a continuous length of c.108.3m, the council said the project comprises “a substantial and visually dominant structure” which is set within a “predominantly low-rise context and along an extensive frontage to a strategic road.”

They also point out its “close proximity” to established residential properties and a school, and consider it to be “visually intrusive, lacking in architectural articulation, with insufficient regard to its scale, bulk and prominent setting.”

The absence of landscaping proposals is considered “a serious omission” by council planners, given the “scale, prominence and strategic location” of the site and also its “extensive road frontage.” They have asked the applicants to submit a detailed landscaping scheme.

Other issues addressed in the request for further information include lighting; road safety; EV charging; road and drainage; appropriate assessment; environment; fire safety and third-party submissions.

The site at Cornamaddy has a long planning history, with the original planning permission for factory use of the site dating back to 1971.

The Irish Cable and Wire Co., which manufactured power cables for the energy, industrial and general markets, was the first factory on the site, and a company called Nexans Ireland subsequently operated a factory on the same site.

Corajio Ltd., trading as Mr. Price, invested €2.5 million in Athlone in 2018 by purchasing the Nexans site – which had been vacant since 2008 – and converting it into a nationwide distribution centre for the discount retail chain.

In 2022, Westmeath County Council refused permission for the retention of a retail Mr. Price shop at the Cornamaddy premises, but this was subsequently overturned by An Bord Pleánala in a ruling issued in late 2023 which found that the “retail core” of Athlone would not be damaged by the location of a Mr. Price shop at the company's existing warehouse premises.

The board stated there was "an adequate population catchment within a 10 minute drive of the site to ensure the development will not directly impact on the turnover of existing retail units in the town centre."