RESIDENTS in Ballymun are demanding official action to save their local shopping centre before it’s too late.
A petition with over 7,500 signatures was handed into Dublin City Council offices last week by locals and public representatives calling for the troubled Ballymun Town Centre to be saved.
The future of the centre was thrown into doubt last month when anchor tenant Tesco announced it was pulling out as the Town Centre store was no longer viable.
The Town Centre is currently jointly owned by Dublin City Council and NAMA, who took over the loans of Ballymun Shopping Centre Ltd – a company effectively owned by developers Treasury Holdings – when it went into receivership in 2012.
NAMA says it is in regular discussions with DCC and official receivers for Ballymun Shopping Centre Ltd, PWC, and is actively working with them to devise a joint strategy for the centre over the short to medium term.
However, last week local residents demonstrated their frustration with the uncertainty surrounding the Town Centre by handing in the petition and a protest is due to be held at the centre on Friday, May 16.
Signatures on the petition were collected by local residents including Christine Carroll and Colette Boswell, as well as staff from McManus Pharmacy in Ballymun and local Fianna Fail election candidate, Laura Reid.
“Ballymun shopping centre has been at the heart of the community for more than 40 years,” Ms Reid said.
“The imminent closure of Tesco and the uncertainty over the future of the shopping centre will only continue to cause detriment to the local economy and stifle the creation of local jobs.
“A plan of action needs to be implemented for Ballymun Village to drive retail businesses and local job creation. Ballymun deserves better than this.”
Another local election candidate, Sean Tyrell (Ind), also voiced his concerns about the future of the Town Centre.
“The people are being kept in the dark about the future of the current or a new centre,” he said.
“I’ve emailed NAMA, The Taoiseach and The Ministers for Jobs, Social Protection and Public Expenditure about these issues to try and get them brought up at Government level.”
In correspondence seen by Northside People NAMA say there is no list of prospective tenants looking to lease units in the centre. However, Mr Tyrell believes every unit in the centre could be filled within 4-6 weeks and is calling on NAMA to devise a short term plan with DCC for the centre.
“I would encourage as many people as possible to contact NAMA to ask them to start letting units out in the centre again, to help create local jobs and give us back our business hub until funding is available for construction of a new shopping centre.
“A lot of Government and council officials try to make Ballymun out to be this big success story, but the reality is it’s not.”
Cllr Paul McAuliffe (FF) said last week’s petition showed that the people of Ballymun “need to be heard”.
“Residents are calling for an assurance that retail in their area will be preserved, and that services vital to their community will be continued,” he said.
“We need to ensure that if Tesco leaves, retail services for the people of Ballymun will be continued. Over 7,000 people have signed this petition. Their voices cannot be ignored.”
Local Fine Gael candidate, Noel Rock, said local residents without cars depended on a viable local shopping centre.
“My concern is for residents, many of whom have done their weekly shop there for decades,” he told Northside People.
“My own family have been shopping there for as long as I can remember and, in truth, this will be a hammer-blow to them as, like many local residents, they don’t own a car and rely on local services such as this.”
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