McDonalds finally coming to Ballina

finisklin

Another casualty in Ballina's hard pressed retail scene as Hot Shot records closed it's door for the last time recently. Always was a great place to pick up a handy Xmas gift, ticket for a concert back in the day or a chat about Ballina's up and coming music talent.

Looks like there could be a couple more closing as well......

Lamentable.

Captain Slow IRL

Is Hotshots gone?!

finisklin

Captain Slow IRL wrote: »

Is Hotshots gone?!

Yeah Mick closed up a few weeks back. Sad to see a long standing business like that bite the dust. What with the advent of ipods and itunes he did well to last as long as he did.

I know Xavi (formerly Virgin) is gone, HMV is just about staying open and fair play to Zhiavagos in Galway for putting up the good fight as well. Changed times for the music and book business.....Retail is frightening at the moment.

Daisy M

gammygils wrote: »

Ye still have Supermac's
Believe me it's far better!!

Trust me the oldsupermacs in Ballina isnt. Its grubby and very tatty looking I wouldnt eat there if you paid me (or I was very drunk).


Cant believe hotshots are gone, have many fond memories of hanging around out the back.

Captain Slow IRL

Daisy M wrote: »

...........Cant believe hotshots are gone, have many fond memories of hanging around out the back.

That's sad, I'm sure I still have a few commodore 64 games lying in the attic that I bought there!

Ilovelucy

Mick will be alright. He'll never be stuck for a gig around the town.

finisklin

Is the lantern restaurant going to be affected by the proposed McDonalds development if it goes ahead? I am not sure if those buildings on that side are affected?

oscarBravo

If it happens, it will pretty much replace the building that the Lantern is in. It's more to that side of the site than the Deanwood itself.

lotusm

Any news has planning been given... I thought it was suppose to be in July but did not hear anything

irishgeo

lotusm wrote: »

Any news has planning been given... I thought it was suppose to be in July but did not hear anything

What Is The Time Limit For Deciding Appeals?

The Board’s objective is to dispose of appeals within 18 weeks. Sometimes this is not possible and each party will be informed of the reasons why.

FAQ from the website

toadfly

Confirmed on TodayFM news McDonalds are coming to Ballina.

About time!

finisklin

It's reported here alright.

However, doesn't say where or when. Puts more pressure on the council to accommodate them on the proposed site.

conseng

Ballina Town Council refused planning on the Deanwood site almost a year ago now. McDonalds appealed that decision to An Bórd Pleanála in January. There is no confirmed due date for a decision on their website as of yesterday.

lotusm

No Fan of McDonalds...it only takes jobs from small restaurants in towns... Ballina is well catered for fast food already... the only benefit is there will be construction jobs and the deanwood site will improve that part of town.. its a real shame another branded retail company in did not come in to develop the site

ciaran67

soterpisc wrote: »

Great news.. and welcome jobs... Seems like McDonalds is coming to Ballina

http://www.ballinatc.ie/Services/Planning/PlanningLists/DecisionsDue/

Shame though it will affect the smaller family restaurants business.

bifl

I’m not sure was the recent jobs announcement based on McD’s (hopefully) knowing where their Application is at or making Ballina part of their announcment anyway without confirmed planning.

Looking at Ballina Town Council however the application is still showing 'Appealed' and if a look at an Bord Pleanala then is is still showing ‘Decision Due’ with no due date given either.

http://www.pleanala.ie/casenum/240084.htm

user1842

Permission refused:

http://www.pleanala.ie/casenum/240084.htm

No Micky Dees for Ballina so.

rusheen

user1842 wrote: »

Permission refused:

http://www.pleanala.ie/casenum/240084.htm

No Micky Dees for Ballina so.

What did the poor people of North Mayo ever do to deserve all these poor planning decisions ??

Wasnt there a €80 million town centre retail development refused planning a couple of years back ?

Ill never forget Nick faldos proposed golf resort being refused planning permission back in the late 90s. The timing would have been perfect just before the boom years . What could have been.......

Cosmo Kramer

I haven't had any reason to visit Ballina beyond the Stephenites ground for a good 20 years at least, but whatever issues the town has or whatever improvement in facilities it needs, I can't imagine that the approval of a McDonalds could possibly be the answer either way.

martinnew

Cosmo Kramer wrote: »

I haven't had any reason to visit Ballina beyond the Stephenites ground for a good 20 years at least, but whatever issues the town has or whatever improvement in facilities it needs, I can't imagine that the approval of a McDonalds could possibly be the answer either way.

McDonalds would be a very welcome development for the town for 2 reasons.

1. The site where they want to build the restaurant is a burnt out dump for years.
2. 15% of Ballina's income comes from Coca-Cola which is a major partner with McDonalds.

At the end of the day.. competition and free trade a good things, they grow the economy and create jobs. Castlebar realised this a long time ago, which is why it is the best place to shop in Mayo and also has a McDonalds..

martinnew

user1842 wrote: »

Permission refused:

http://www.pleanala.ie/casenum/240084.htm

No Micky Dees for Ballina so.

Ballina is a great place for talking down jobs...

finisklin

martinnew wrote: »

McDonalds would be a very welcome development for the town for 2 reasons.

1. The site where they want to build the restaurant is a burnt out dump for years.
2. 15% of Ballina's income comes from Coca-Cola which is a major partner with McDonalds.

At the end of the day.. competition and free trade a good things, they grow the economy and create jobs. Castlebar realised this a long time ago, which is why it is the best place to shop in Mayo and also has a McDonalds..

The reason the Deanwood is a burnt out dump is that the owner of the property has deliberately ran it down and allow it to become an eyesore. The primary reason for this is that it helps his planning application as councillors are keen to develop it and make their lives easier as there will be no one complaining about how it takes away from the town.

Interested to see where you came up with the 15% of Ballina's income comes from Coke?:cool:

martinnew

finisklin wrote: »

Interested to see where you came up with the 15% of Ballina's income comes from Coke?:cool:

Well considering that 15% of Ballina's workforce is related to coke.. I presumed it would be about the same as regards income. Don't they also have a packaging company out the kilalla road? Then you have Ballina transport... etc.. 400-500 trucks go into the plant weekly..

Also Ballina is one of the very few towns in Ireland with an active Freight rail line, as a result of coke.

As a matter of interest what do you think they contribute to Ballina? Would you have preferred they didn't get in like McDonalds?

monument

martinnew wrote: »

Well considering that 15% of Ballina's workforce is related to coke.. I presumed it would be about the same as regards income. Don't they also have a packaging company out the kilalla road? Then you have Ballina transport... etc.. 400-500 trucks go into the plant weekly..

Also Ballina is one of the very few towns in Ireland with an active Freight rail line, as a result of coke.

As a matter of interest what do you think they contribute to Ballina? Would you have preferred they didn't get in like McDonalds?

You still have yet to tell us where the 15% figure comes from? I'm not saying you're wrong, just wondering where the figure is from.

Even if it was 15% of the jobs in the town it may not translate to 15% income spent in the town -- you have to factor in where the people live, where they do their shopping, do they shop much, how much they spend etc.

Also, what has the global partnership of two companies to do with Ballina? Why would that add to it being a welcome development for the town?

I'm not coming down on one side or another. I'm just saying there's a lot to factor in. A lot of questions, like: Will the new business result it jobs losses elsewhere? Will other businesses close? Will people eat more takeaway or just switch from buying it in one place? Will McDonalds alone attract people without the mix available in the likes of Castlebar? Is this the best possible use for the site?

Those questions mostly go beyond what planners can look at, but the planners and the planning board have answered negatively to planning issues already -- as detailed in the link above.

finisklin

martinnew wrote: »

Well considering that 15% of Ballina's workforce is related to coke.. I presumed it would be about the same as regards income. Don't they also have a packaging company out the kilalla road? Then you have Ballina transport... etc.. 400-500 trucks go into the plant weekly..

Also Ballina is one of the very few towns in Ireland with an active Freight rail line, as a result of coke.

As a matter of interest what do you think they contribute to Ballina? Would you have preferred they didn't get in like McDonalds?

Your analysis of 15% of the work force and income is based on the assumption that Coke's employees all live in the town. They don't.

I have never said that McDonalds are not welcome and the current site is not favoured by the officials in the town council for a number of reasons. Plus the developer/owner of the site is not flavour of the month with the same officials. The manner in which he has let this property become an eyesore and progress the McDonalds planning application is a bit rich IMHO.

Anyway in the long term, many of the small hospitality food businesses will be affected by McDonalds and these are a big chunk of Ballina's work force. Unfortunately I can't provide a link to back this up as I am unaware of how to access these stats. Though they will raise the competition bar considerably.

Daisy M

finisklin wrote: »

Your analysis of 15% of the work force and income is based on the assumption that Coke's employees all live in the town. They don't.

I have never said that McDonalds are not welcome and the current site is not favoured by the officials in the town council for a number of reasons. Plus the developer/owner of the site is not flavour of the month with the same officials. The manner in which he has let this property become an eyesore and progress the McDonalds planning application is a bit rich IMHO.

Anyway in the long term, many of the small hospitality food businesses will be affected by McDonalds and these are a big chunk of Ballina's work force. Unfortunately I can't provide a link to back this up as I am unaware of how to access these stats. Though they will raise the competition bar considerably.

Is the owner not a "she" anymore or was the site sold on from Mollys days?
Re the 15% many of Ballina Beverages employees do not live in town, but I would think Ballina would benefit greatly from the ones living in nearby smaller towns, ie killala, Crossmolina, Bonniconlon.

martinnew

finisklin wrote: »

Anyway in the long term, many of the small hospitality food businesses will be affected by McDonalds and these are a big chunk of Ballina's work force.

You have go to be joking... Are you saying restaurants and Hotels will have less business because of McDonalds? I live in the Town and purposely will drive to Castlebar to give the kids a treat.

What is the "big chunk" of ballina's workforce that would be affected?

Its petty protectionism that keeps jobs out of Ballina....

jippo nolan

finisklin wrote: »

The reason the Deanwood is a burnt out dump is that the owner of the property has deliberately ran it down and allow it to become an eyesore. The primary reason for this is that it helps his planning application as councillors are keen to develop it and make their lives easier as there will be no one complaining about how it takes away from the town.

Interested to see where you came up with the 15% of Ballina's income comes from Coke?:cool:

Was the deanwood hotel the old moy hotel?

Daisy M

finisklin wrote: »

.

Anyway in the long term, many of the small hospitality food businesses will be affected by McDonalds and these are a big chunk of Ballina's work force. Unfortunately I can't provide a link to back this up as I am unaware of how to access these stats. Though they will raise the competition bar considerably.

I too doubt that small restaurants will suffer, one thing Ballina has plenty of is really decent cafes, bar food pubs and restaurnats. I have yet to see any other town with such an excellent good quality choice of eating out. Recently reopened are bar square, Bartra house dillons and heffernans restaurant all seem to be doing very well as are the previously existing eateries, the lantern, love lees, market kitchen, mocha beans ect.

I would love to know how many takeaways, cafes bar food providers and restaurants there are in the town, I would guess at in excess of 30 if you include hotels.

finisklin

martinnew wrote: »

You have go to be joking... Are you saying restaurants and Hotels will have less business because of McDonalds? I live in the Town and purposely will drive to Castlebar to give the kids a treat.

What is the "big chunk" of ballina's workforce that would be affected?

Its petty protectionism that keeps jobs out of Ballina....

Given that you are saying that Coke has 15% of the employment/income, its reasonable that the hospitality food business employs greater than this. As I said and I was up front about it that I can't point to any stats to to back this up and perhaps your logic can help here?

With McDonalds opening it is not going to grow the eating out market particularly in a recession. For me and my gang, who also enjoy McDonalds, we may have to forego going to the Junction or Cafollas to stuff ourselves on happy meals. Which is sad as I try to buy local where there are local owners running their shops.

Have to agree that Ballina is well served by restaurants and unlike the celtic tiger eating in is the new eating in (as opposed to eating out, back then!). Disappointing to see that Padraics has closed down and for the older Ballina generation this was a long standing institution with good grub and service.

I have no connection with any food business, just an ordinary punter who likes to shop local and on this rare occasion agree with the TC. The developer who bought the site from Molly a few years of ago is playing the game and the sad thing is that he has withstood the recession reasonably well unlike the other big names who are on their knees.

BTW the old Moy hotel is now the library. The deanwood hotel is on Bury street before McKanes house on right hand side going to font.