Planning permission has been granted for a Lidl supermarket in Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, prompting a Fianna Fail councillor to call the decision 'hard to fathom'.
An Bord Pleanála has granted permission for the development of a Lidl supermarket on the former site of The Deerhunter pub, as well as a nursing home and medical centre.
"The reliance on yet another large supermarket within a stone's through of several others is hard to fathom," said Councillor Cormac Devlin. " I believe another retail unit of this nature, particularly [one of] 2,509 square metres, with an off-licence, is not warranted in the area."
Devlin highlighted the fact that planning permission was granted earlier this year for an Aldi supermarket on Pearse Street, Sallynoggin, around the corner from the site, and the area is already well served by a myriad of other stores.
"Construction has recently begun on the Pearse Street site," he said, "however there are also several other existing supermarkets within the area; Tesco (Park Pointe, formerly Dún Laoghaire Golf Club), Tesco (Ballybrack and Bloomfields in Dún Laoghaire), Centra (Glenageary Shopping Centre), Super Valu (Killiney Shopping Centre) and the two existing Lidl stores in Deansgrange and Pottery Road.
"The question must be asked, how many supermarkets are required in such a small catchment area?"
Lidl's two other stores in the area, in Pottery Road and Deansgrange, are located 2.3 kilometers and 3.4 kilometers respectively, away from the new site.
The former Deerhunter site has had several planning applications made on it since it was acquired for redevelopment back in 2004.
© 2015 - Checkout Magazine by Stephen Wynne-Jones
