Retail: Three local developers have won permission for the first mixed district retail centre to be approved for Naas. The €16 million development includes a large supermarket, 15 retail units and a 10,000 sq m (10,763sqft) retail park.

Applicant for the project is Hazelmark Development, which includes Mick McGinn, Frank Cleary and Denis Curry.

The 15-acre site is on the Monread Road, minutes from the M7 Motorway in the centre of the Monread housing park in the East Naas/Sallins area. It is half way between the two town centres.

Planners in Kildare approved the project last Wednesday and had the unusual task of having to adjudicate on two rival but similar shopping centre developments.

Competing company, Castlekeel Ltd, has an adjoining site and had proposed a similar development including shopping centre with large anchor unit and retail park combined.

Mr Curry expressed his delight at Hazelmark's success. "It will be the first district centre in Naas. It will back onto the motorway and it is a super site."

Local planners had for years resisted district development in favour of town centre expansion, he said, and the decision represented a shift in retail strategy for the region.

The approval cited a number of reasons for this, including the rapid growth of housing in Monread, changes suggested in retail planning made by the Department of the Environment and Local Government, the lack of retail facilities that served to reduce competition and had a strong influence on travel patterns and the lack of lands suited to a town centre type development in Naas.

"I think the decision was overdue," Mr Curry said. "Considering the growth of Sallins and Naas, it is in an ideal location."

The overall development at Monread will exceed 19,000 sq m (204,515 sq ft). The scheme provides for a retail park at close to the 10,000 sq m (107,639 sq ft) limit and a supermarket anchor site at 3,500 sq m (37,673 sq ft).

The remainder of the development comprises 15 retail shop units and there is associated parking for 900 cars.

No anchor tenant has been announced so far. "We have had a lot of interest in it but because of a lot of uncertainty about planning, we decided we would wait until we cleared planning," Mr Curry said. Since last week. the company now has many suitors for the retail space available at Monread. "Thirty people have expressed an interest since we got the planning," he added.

Project manager for the development is Mr Conor Furey and John Spain of John Spain and Associates is the planning consultant.

Architect for the project is Arthur O'Brien of O'Brien and Kaye Architects.

Naas has lacked this type of focused development for some time, but Hazelmark will not be without competition in this regard. Planners have approved a large town centre development close to the middle of Naas with anchor tenant Marks and Spencer's expected to move in this December. The town centre development also includes a multi-storey car park.

This is not excessive retail development, Mr Curry believes, because Naas had suffered inadequate shopping facilities for some time.

It had failed to match those in nearby Newbridge for many years. The new developments would give locals the kind of shopping facilities that people want, he added.