New restaurant / bar will 'enhance the evening economy' of Rushmere Shopping Centre in Craigavon
The team behind a new restaurant and bar in Rushmere Shopping Centre has said the facility will help boost the night time economy of the complex.
The former Synge & Byrne café in the centre, which closed its doors a year ago, is going to be turned into a new restaurant with significantly-enhanced seating capacity and a bar area.
The approved planning application was lodged by MBA Planning Ltd, Belfast, on behalf of Killahoey Ltd, Portadown.
The scheme will involve the refurbishment, extension and alterations to the vacant restaurant at Unit 36 within the Craigavon shopping complex.
Works will also include an external seating area, planters and new façade to the west entrance of the shopping centre to include a new customer access.
MBA Planning explained in their Planning Statement that the new offering would help boost the night time economy at Rushmere Shopping Centre.
“The extended restaurant, its regenerated façade and mall entrance will provide a vibrant, accessible and positive contribution to the area’s townscape with a warm, welcoming and active frontage,” the statement said.
“The existing restaurant unit comprises about 167m2, and it is proposed to extend this by another 84m2. The external seating area will extend to 55m2.
“The proposal seeks to develop and extend the burgeoning evening economy of the shopping centre, by providing a new hospitality offering that will provide good food and drink all day and into the evening.
“The extended restaurant will provide a spacious, light and airy facility, and provide the customers with the opportunity to consume their meals in an external space, consistent with modern trends.
“The proposal will transform the appearance of the west entrance area, opening the blank brick façade to a welcoming and vibrant glazed frontage.
“As it has its own dedicated access, it can operate independently of the shopping centre. This will enhance the evening economy of the complex.
“This is a proposal to create a food and beverage offering that will diversify and complement the range of uses in the prime retail core of the town centre.”
In their report, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Planning officers explained that they had no issue with the proposed development: “It is noted in the application form that work has commenced as of May 1, 2025, but not yet complete.
“The previous use of this unit was for food and beverage purposes, and last operated as a café / deli Synge & Byrne between February 2020 until the end of March 2025.
“The Environmental Health Department would have no objections in principle for this proposed development.
“The proposed extension [will include] modern glass and brick frontage added to the unit, to allow for direct access to the front.
“The proposed extension to the unit will visually read with the existing shopping centre, and the modern redesign of the building allows for a warmer, more welcoming frontage.
“Officers are of the opinion that the proposed development will not represent an incongruous and/or visually dominant form of development, to the detriment of the existing visual resource.
“The proposal will represent a redevelopment of a vacant unit and will create jobs for the area. Although this is given no determining weight, the proposal will have a positive effect on the local economy.”