Kildare County Council yesterday voted by 19 votes to five to grant planning permission for a 45-unit retail outlet at Kill, Co Kildare.
The proposal by Irish International Tourist Outlets Ltd, which required a material contravention of the 1985 county development plan, is being opposed by retailers in the Naas area. The county manager, Mr Niall Bradley, recommended the granting of permission but the county engineer, Mr Jimmy Lynch, said the development would constitute a "serious traffic hazard" on the present N7 dual carriageway.
Mr Lynch said the stretch of road between Johnstown and Kill villages had three times the national average traffic accident rate and a 10 per cent increase in traffic could lead to a 30 per cent rise in accidents. Current plans to upgrade the motorway in the area would not be sufficient to cater for the proposed development.
The council was told the Kill retail development would provide 400 jobs and would not take too much business from Naas.
Senior executive planner Mr Philip Jones advised that the development known as the Kildare Tourist Outlet Village was different to other out-of-town shopping centres and would not breach the 1998 ministerial guidelines on out-of-town shopping centres.
Supporting the development, Mr Tony Lawler said 170 people who attended a public meeting in Kill last week signed a petition supporting it. Mr Timmy Conway of the PDs and Ms Mary French-Coughlan of Fine Gael opposed the development.