Lidl plan for Knocknacarra rejected
The Planning Appeals Board has overruled one of its own inspectors, and refused permission for a controversial Lidl supermarket and off-licence in Knocknacarra.
The Board voted 3:2 in favour of rejecting their inspector’s recommendation.
They said there should be a mix of uses in the neighbourhood centre (for which the site is earmarked in the City Development Plan) rather than a single retail building, and the development would not be welcoming for pedestrians and cyclists.
Last March, the City Council granted permission for the 20,000 square foot development at the two-acre site off the Western Distributor Road and Ballymoneen Road.
That decision was subsequently appealed by RGDATA – the group which represents independent retailers – claiming the location is inappropriate and would undermine city centre retailers and those in the existing Knocknacarra District Centre (Dunnes/B&Q).
The group said there is already an excessive amount of convenience retailing in the western suburbs, parking would be inadequate and would lead to a traffic hazard.
A resident of the Ballymoneen Road also appealed, claiming she would have to move house because of the road safety issues the supermarket would present.
Site owner Florence Thomas also appealed an element of the planning permission on the grounds she believed a €116,000 financial contribution to the Council was “too high” and should be halved.
Derek Daly, an inspector with An Bord Pleanála, recommended that the Council decision should be upheld, saying it “would not seriously injure the visual amenity or the character and residential amenities of the area and would be acceptable in terms of traffic safety and convenience”.
However, the Board overruled his recommendation in a 3:2 vote saying: “In deciding not to accept the inspector’s recommendation to grant permission, the Board had regard to the Development Plan provisions and considered that the neighbourhood centre might be more appropriately developed in an integrated way, with a mix of uses as envisaged in the Development Plan objective, rather than solely a single retail building.
“The opportunity for such coordinated development might be lost were the proposed development to take place in the absence of an overall masterplan for the neighbourhood centre lands.”