Planners green light new Lidl for Knocknacarra

Planners have given the green light for the construction of a new €2 million Lidl supermarket off the Western Distributor Road.

A series of objections to the application were lodged by locals to the plans for the 1,894 square metre single-storey foodstore and off licence.

The project is now expected to be appealed to An Bord Pleanála.

The supermarket would take between five and six months to build, creating 24 construction jobs, while creating up to 25 full-time jobs in the supermarket, with a projected annual turnover of €8.5 million.

The two-acre site is bounded by the Ballymoneen Road and Western Distributor Road.

Planners restricted opening hours to between 8am and 9pm Monday to Saturday and 10.30am to 7pm on Sundays, and ordered that any 24-hour operation be restricted to four weeks in each calendar year (at Christmas or Easter), and these must be agreed with the Council in advance.

Construction work has been restricted to 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 9am and 1pm on Saturdays. If rock-breaking is required, a schedule of works must be agreed beforehand with the Council.

Local objectors said the application was broadly similar to one which was rejected last year by An Bord Pleanála.

They argued that the development is unsustainable as it relies on carparking, and there is a lack of connectivity to the neighbourhood centre.

For more on this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune