Clare County Council has refused planning permission for ALDI’s proposed new Shannon store.
The local authority says the developmen on the Airport Road, near the town centre, would ‘seriously injure’ the amenities of the local area.
The retail giant had submitted an updated planning application for the two-story development at Airport Road near the town centre after the Council had sought more information on its previous application.
The 1,315 square metre store, which would have been ALDI’s fifth in Clare, included a two-storey unit for coffee shop and restaurant use, pedestrian and cycle crossing on the Airport road, as well as a new pedestrian footpath at the front of the site.
25 permanent jobs had been earmarked for the store if it opened.
Clare County Council has now confirmed it’s rejected the application, and says it’s done so for three reasons.
In planning documents seen by Clare FM, it states that the land the site was to be located on is designated for ‘mixed use’, would prejudice the future development of the wider site, and that the store would be contrary to ‘proper planning and sustainable development of the area’.
The local authority also wasn’t satisfied with pedestrian linkages to the town centre – describing the proposal as lacking safety and convenience.
The Council goes on to say the development would be ‘premature’ until the Shannon Spatial & Economic Plan is completed, and would fail to relate to the existing town centre’s uses.
ALDI has told Clare FM it’s ‘disappointed’ at the decision, and the retailer is understood to be preparing an appeal.
Clare County Council statement:
‘Planning permission was refused for planning application reference P20/311 to Aldi Stores (Ireland) Limited for a site in Shannon for three reasons.
There was one third party submission made on the planning file.
Whilst further information had been sought with regard to the application, ultimately the application was refused for the reasons as set out in the planning decision.’
ALDI statement:
“We are naturally disappointed with Clare County Council’s decision concerning our proposed new Shannon store.”
“Our revised plans for the new store feature several facilities that will benefit the wider Shannon community, including a dedicated connection to the town centre for pedestrians and cyclists, the addition of a two storey café or restaurant unit with associated external terrace area and free-to-use electric vehicle charging points.”
“We are committed to bringing our fantastic prices, value and greater choice to shoppers in Shannon and will be appealing the decision to An Bord Pleanala.”
“The environmentally friendly store will bring considerable investment to the town, creating 25 new permanent jobs, and up to 80 jobs during the construction period.”
“We were also recently voted Ireland’s Most Reputable Supermarket by Reptrak”
“It will be our fifth in Co. Clare and will provide further opportunity for local food and drink producers to work with Aldi. We sourced €2.8 million of locally produced food and drink from Co. Clare based producers in 2020.
“The store will also take part in our Community Grants and FoodCloud donation programmes. Killaloe Ballina Search & Rescue, Mid-West Simon Community and Down Syndrome Ireland are some of the many local charities that have availed of the €500 Community Grant in recent years, while our Clare stores have donated over 30,000 meals through FoodCloud to charities across the county.”
