Deadline looms for big housing scheme on old Centrepoint site
The old Centrepoint in Portlaoise, before it was demolished following a major fire in 2021
PLANS for a large housing development on the old Centrepoint site in Portlaoise must be lodged within six months if the owners are to avoid further steep financial penalties.
Laois Co Council has held preplanning discussions, but no planning application has been lodged so far for the long-vacant site, which was described by a councillor this week as “a blight on the town.”
Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley made the comment when she said: “I get so frustrated because plans on paper are great, but we need actual buildings.”
At the council’s latest meeting on 28 July, cllr Dwane Stanley demanded to see the plan for the huge 2.31-hectare site, where the old shopping centre was demolished following a fire in 2021, having been vacant for nearly 20 years.
Cllr Dwane Stanley said: “We are not seeing the plan for Centrepoint and we are the elected members. We want to see the plan.”
Councillors were told last December that the owners are ‘progressing plans for a residential development’ and have engaged in preplanning discussions with the council’s planning department.
At the July meeting, cllr Dwane Stanley said the Centrepoint site on the town’s Mountrath road is “as valuable as anything” as it is already fully serviced.
She said: “I would like some idea on when the plan is coming forward. I want the powers that we have utilised, however small. People are sitting on vacant sites while we are in the middle of a housing crisis. I want to see houses plus amenities and I know there is a plan for a community element.”
The independent councillor told council officials: “You might have the benefit of knowing the plan, but we need to see it built. That site is a blight on our town.”
Director of services Angela McEvoy replied that part of the Centrepoint site is on the derelict sites register and part on the vacant sites register.
She said: “There is an LRD (large residential development) going through the planning process at the moment, so I can’t say anymore on that.”
However, Ms McEvoy added that she expected progress to be made in the coming months, with a six-month deadline for a planning application to be submitted. If planning permission is granted, construction must be completed within five years.
The site has been listed as an ‘opportunity site’ in the Laois County Development Plan (CDP) since 2016, as well as the Portlaoise Local Area Plan and is zoned for mixed use.
It is described in the CDP as ‘a brownfield retail site located at Mountrath Road with access also from Harpur’s Lane, an extensive surface car park, a prime location for redevelopment, not located within an architectural conservation area, with no protected structures within the site.’
The CDP adds: ‘Care should be taken that this building addresses the extensive street frontage available and be designed to an exceptional standard. New buildings should be permanent, timeless and contemporary structures.’
Once a thriving business hub, the shopping centre had outlets that included Shaws, Gings, a furniture shop, a supermarket, a hairdresser and a restaurant, as well as a service station. After it closed, the premises became increasingly derelict and was notorious for anti-social behaviour, culminating in a major blaze in April 2021.
At that stage, Laois Co Council ordered Kerry-based owners Pimcar Ltd to secure the property and make it safe. The buildings were in such dangerous condition that they had to be demolished and the site was fully cleared.
The site is incurring annual levies on Laois Co Council's derelict sites register, currently set at 7% of the market value of the land. It is also liable for Residential Zoned Land Tax, which is designed to tackle landowners ‘sitting on’ housing development lands.
