French sporting retail group Decathlon has secured planning permission for a large-scale outlet at the Liffey Valley retail park in Dublin. The retailer got permission to revamp a retail warehouse unit in spite of opposition from Liffey Valley Management Ltd which claimed that the proposal breached retail planning guidelines. South Dublin County Council granted planning permission for the proposal last July but this was appealed to An Bord Pleanála by Liffey Valley Management Ltd.
An Bord Pleanála’s inspector found that the proposed development of a vacant store “would complement the existing retail offer and is an ideal location for such a store”.
Conditions
As part of the seven conditions attached to the planning permission, the appeals board has ordered that no more than 20 per cent of net retail sales be dedicated to ancillary items associated with bulky goods.
The Liffey Valley Retail Park is located immediately north of the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre.
Decathlon lodged plans for an internal mezzanine at unit 14 of the Liffey Valley Retail Park that would result in almost a doubling in the gross floor area to 3,252sq m to bring the store in line with the average Decathlon store overseas.
The proposal is part of ambitious plans by Decathlon to open nine stores here over the next number of years and is due to open its first Irish store at Ballymun next month.
