Kilkenny County Council continues to seek clarification on who owns Ferrybank Shopping Centre.
12 months out from the expected opening of the largely vacant building, the purchaser has yet to be officially named though a new owner was confirmed last April.
The Piltown Municipal District meeting yesterday (Wednesday, 7th December) heard how local authority’s Acting CEO Seán McKeown has yet again written to Nama to get an update.
Cllr Ger Frisby told those gathered “Everybody knows its Dunnes Stores but no one’s saying that’ and he told KCLR News it’s something he’s had a lot of people onto him about; “Everyone is asking who the new owner of the centre is, what’s happening to it, when it’s going to open; as far as I’m concerned it’s opening pre-Christmas 2023 but we need to know as a local authority, for everyone’s sake, who the new owner is so that we can start constructive engagement with them and draw up a plan really in relation to the set-up of the centre and what’s needed in there, what’s going in there, I think it’s just good governance to have the name of the owner out in the open now”.
Cllr Frisby also says he can’t understand the secrecy as it’s well known on the ground who the purchaser is; “Everyone knows that there’s a new security company in place, there’s new maintenance in place, the contractors I’ve spoken with, contractors that are on-site, and they are contracted basically to Dunnes Stores so I don’t know why the secrecy just get it out there now and get moving because everyone wants to see the centre up and running and benefitting all the people of the area”.
He adds the opening of the shopping centre would be a great catalyst for jobs locally; “Young people, it’ll give them outlets there, and I have numerous people onto me, a couple of big ventures, that’d be interested in going into the units so the sooner we can direct those people to the relevant new owner and/or whoever is the managing agents for them, I think the sooner the better because this time next year will roll on fairly quick and we need to make sure that the place is open and vibrant for next Christmas’.
