A multi-million euro Ikea store will bring investment, economic sustainability and employment to one of the most deprived areas in the country, it was claimed today.
But shoppers travelling to the proposed retail unit in Ballymun, north Dublin, would account for 12 per cent of all traffic on the already congested M50.
Ikea's hopes to open up shop just off the motorway were put to the test at an oral hearing held by An Bord Pleanala.
While regeneration groups backed the plan, the National Road Authority stressed the M50 was already experiencing traffic levels above its capacity.
The NRA's Hugh Creegan told the hearing a traffic assessment carried out by the applicant was completely inadequate, adding that the Ballymun junction would not be able to carry the proposed traffic and would need another upgrade by 2012.
"It's not possible to undo the past," he said.
"But we have to make sure those mistakes are not made again."
However, Ciaran Murray, of Ballymun Regeneration Ltd, appealed for the plans to be approved.
He said with unemployment in Ballymun at 14 per cent, three times the national average, Ikea could provide an almost unique match for the skills of local people and the store would put Ballymun on the national map.
"The Ikea development ticks all the boxes," said Mr Murray. "Ballymun is a sustainable, suitable and appropriate location for Ikea."
The M50 was a planning problem, not a traffic problem, he stressed, adding that the extra traffic would not compete with morning peak hour motorists.
He said it would be an opportunity to address the planning mistakes of the 1960s.
Ikea first announced its plans to open stores in Dublin and Belfast in January 2006 and within a month an official application was lodged with Fingal County Council.
Plans were passed in October with 30 conditions attached, which Ikea said it was confident it could meet.
The Belfast store will open at the end of the year.
But objectors contested the planning permission on grounds it would compound the problems already faced by motorists on the gridlocked M50.
The National Roads Authority, Tesco Ireland, Treasury Holdings, which is redeveloping the old Ballymun shopping centre, the Irish Hardware and Building Materials Association, and Green Party representatives will all submit their objections during the hearing, which could run into next week.
The development would be located on a 12.6 hectare site south of the motorway, and cover 30,598 sq metres over two floors, in the Ballymun Regeneration Zone featuring 1,527 car park spaces — 623 underground — and 12 coach bays.
If approved, Ikea hopes to open by May 2008, ploughing millions of euro and creating 500 new jobs in the area.
The oral hearing, chaired by senior planning inspector Keith Sargeant, is taking place in the CG Hotel, at Dublin Airport, and will resume at 2pm tomorrow.
PA