New Retail Planning Guidelines get green light
An increase in the size of Irish supermarkets is just one of the changes documented in the new Retail Planning Guidelines
Print14 May 2012
New Retail Planning Guidelines were released by the Department of the Environment at the beginning of May.
Among the changes were an increase in the cap on the size of supermarkets in Dublin from 3,500 to 4,000 sq metres and an increase in the cap on the size of supermarkets in Cork, Galway, Waterford and Limerick from 3,000 to 3,500 sq metres.
In addition out-of-town warehouse retail developments like Ikea will only be permitted in Dublin and the other large cities.
In a bid to revive flagging town centres, new retail developments must be located in city and town centres, not in new retail parks and out-of-town retail centres. The country has been divided up into five retail planning regions, with each region developing a co-ordinated retail planning strategy.
Welcoming the publication of the new Retail Planning Guidelines, Retail Excellence Ireland said that it will be crucial that local authorities now apply the sequential test to all new retail developments.
David Fitzsimons, chief executive, Retail Excellence Ireland, said: “Retailers are happy to see the timely publication of these new guidelines and we are supportive of the measures that are contained in the document. It is now down to the local authorities and planning bodies to ensure that these measures are correctly adhered to.
“If Irish towns and cities are to have vibrant and healthy retail cores into the future, a “town-centre first” approach to retail planning needs to be applied to all new developments.”
However many in the grocery industry would worry that this increase in cap size could result in attracting international retail giants to an already crowded marketplace.
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