German discounter Aldi has been refused planning permission to build a supermarket on the former Premier Dairies site in Finglas because it would have a "negative impact on the vitality and viability of Finglas village", according to Dublin City Council. Edel Morgan reports.
Aldi was looking to build a 1,283 sq m (13,810 sq ft) single storey discount foodstore with 111 surface car-parking spaces on a 1.9-acre site adjoining the Premier Square apartment scheme. Another reason given by Dublin City Council for refusal was that Finglas already has an "overprovision of retail developments of similar format" including Tesco in the nearby Clearwater Centre, Lidl at the junction of North Road and St Margaret's Road and Superquinn, Supervalu and Iceland in Finglas village.
The design and layout of the proposed supermarket and surface car-parking would result in a development "of poor visual quality", said the report and "would not make full use of the development potential of this important suburban site, and would be inconsistent with the existing and proposed pattern of residential development on the site".
This will come as good news to the residents of Premier Square, an adjoining apartment scheme to the south of the site, who objected to the proposed supermarket. They said it would increase traffic on the Finglas Road and would involve a revised traffic arrangement for access to their scheme. Other concerns included security around the proposed Aldi store and car-park and the potential dumping of trolleys in the apartment complex.
The planner's report said that Finglas village has been designated a "prime urban centre" (PUC) in the Draft Dublin City Development Plan 2005-2011, which is currently on public display. There is also, said the report, a regeneration strategy which aims to consolidate and expand the range of services and retail facilities in the village. It said there is a need to be selective in the nature and extent of competing developments in the catchment area of the village.
It remains to be seen whether Aldi will appeal this decision to An Bord Pleanála but, despite this setback, in less than four years Aldi and its competitor Lidl have cornered 5.1 per cent of the market. There are predictions that their combined market share will jump to 25 per cent within five years.
While Lidl has 40 stores in the Republic with a distribution centre of around 32,516 sq m (350,000 sq ft) in Newbridge, Aldi so far has 11 stores in the south along with a distribution centre of 32,516-34,374 sq m (350,000 to 370,000 sq ft) under construction in Naas.
