Sprucefield

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Sprucefield is a major out-of-town retail park on the outskirts of Lisburn and ten miles from Belfast, Northern Ireland. The centre is the only purpose-built out of town centre in Northern Ireland and serves a large catchment area. The area has two distinct developments, the Sprucefield Centre and Sprucefield Park, separated by the A1 road.

Sprucefield is also the site of a large BBC transmitter. The site is located adjacent to the M1 motorway linking Belfast with the south and west of the province and also the A1, the main road for Belfast to Dublin traffic.

Contents 1 Sprucefield Centre 2 Sprucefield Park 2.1 Second phase 3 References

[edit] Sprucefield Centre

Sprucefield Centre was developed by Marks and Spencer and opened in March 1989. Sprucefield Centre includes shops such as Marks and Spencer, Homebase, MFI, JJB Sports and recently, Boots.

The centre was virtually destroyed in January 1991 in an IRA incendiary attack. Three of four stores were destroyed, (MFI, Allied Maples and Texas), while the Marks and Spencer wing suffered only water damage.^[1]

An expansion of Marks and Spencer has been reported for many years. An outline planning application was submitted in 1995, followed by a public inquiry in 1999. The Planning Service recommended the proposal be accepted. If built the extension calls for the demolition and resiting of the transmitter station.

[edit] Sprucefield Park

Sprucefield Park was opened in 2003, with Sainsbury's and B&Q as anchor tenants. There are three smaller units; one of which is occupied by Currys, one by Argos (one of three Argos Extra stores in Northern Ireland) and another unoccupied as of December 2006. Stannifer, a property developer with a long term partnership with Sainsbury's, was responsible for construction and took ownership of the site. Westfield bought Sprucefield Park in 2004.

Sprucefield Park (like the Sprucefield Centre) has faced major objections at almost every stage. Sainsbury's announced its move into Northern Ireland in 1995 and opened its first stores in 1997, however it would be eight years before its Sprucefield store was opened. An application for outline planning permission was submitted in July 1998 and final permission was granted in February 2001. ^[2]The planning permission for the centre also included a multiplex cinema and a 150-bed hotel, however these have yet to be built.

In December 2004 the B&Q store was extensively damaged by an incendiary device. The store was closed for approximately six months. ^[3] In January 2005 another firebomb was discovered in the centre's Sainsbury's store, however this was successfully defused. Both incidents, and others such as the destruction of a Next store at Forestside Shopping Centre in Belfast, were blamed on dissident republicans. ^[4]

[edit] Second phase

In June 2004 the developers announced plans for a 220,000 sq ft John Lewis department store and 29 additional units on the site. Despite objections from Lisburn retailers and the Belfast Chamber of Commerce the development was given approval in June 2005 by then Northern Ireland Environment Minister Jeff Rooker. ^[5] However in October 2005 six parties opposed to the development won the right to seek a judicial review of the planning permission. These parties were Belfast City Council, Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce, Lisburn Chamber of Commerce, the owners of Lisburn's Bow Street Mall, Central Craigavon Limited and AM Developments Limited (AM Developments is building the Victoria Square centre in Belfast city centre). On 10 May 2006 the appeal was upheld, effectively removing planning permission. However the judge, Mr Justice Girvan, said he was not ruling on the merits of the store itself, rather on the way the decision to grant permission was taken. This allows a new planning application to be submitted. ^[6]

Westfield and Snoddens' reaffirmed their commitment to pursuing planning permission in November 2006 after a new legal challenge by Central Craigavon Ltd., owners of the Rushmere Shopping Centre.^[7]

[edit] References