Lidl plan for Westside supermarket bites the dust for a second time

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – A second attempt by German retail giant Lidl to build a new supermarket on the site of the former Arch Motors in the Westside has failed.

Galway City Council ruled last week that the plans would be contrary to the land zoning of the site – where a specific objective is in place that it can only be used for bulky goods and local retailing needs.

And the HSE said it still had concerns about the potential impact of the development on air ambulance activities at the nearby helipad.

In September, Lidl applied for permission to build a “local retailing supermarket” with off licence and a single retail unit on the site of Arch Motors.

Last year, An Bord Pleanála (ABP) turned down an almost identical planning application on the site because of the land zoning issue.

In the latest application, the City Council noted that the site was still outside of the designated Westside District Centre, and therefore the reason for refusal by ABP had not been overcome.

“It is considered that the proposed development has failed to pass the first test with regards to planning assessment for this site as it clearly does not address the previous reason for refusal by ABP, in this instance the principle of such a development is not open for consideration on this site and permission should be refused,” the Council’s appraisal of the planning application reads.

The appraisal added that the entire site would generate a requirement for 131 carparking spaces, while only 93 were proposed. The Council noted this was even fewer than the 110 spaces proposed in last year’s application.

Refusing permission, the Council said that under the current City Development Plan, the site has a specific development objective “to consider only bulky goods retailing and local retailing needs” and there is no exception provided to allow for a foodstore there.

RGDATA, the representative group for independent, family-owned grocery outlets, submitted its standard objection to such an application for the city, on the grounds of its concerns about “the proliferation of planning and permission convenience stores in suburban locations throughout Galway City in recent years”.

“If not carefully managed, the cumulative effect of these retail developments poses a real threat to the future vitality and viability of the city centre and existing centres in the city,” the RGDATA objection reads.

This is a shortened preview version of this article. To read the rest of the story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.