COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF DEVELOPMENT PLAN MEETING

Thursday, June 18, 2015

MOTION NO. 189

MOTION: Councillor W. Lavelle

To delete ‘R2 Objective 2’ and to amend ‘R2 Objective 3’ by adding the following words in bold to the start “To direct new major retail floorspace in the County to designated centres of the appropriate level; and to further direct retail development in designated centres….

Co-sponsored by Cllr. Donovan

REPORT:

The motion proposes the deletion of R2 Objective 2’ and the amalgamation of most of the content into R2 Objective 3.

The 2 objectives in the Chief Executive’s Draft state:

R2 Objective 2:    

To direct new major retail floorspace in the County to identified Retail Opportunity Sites at Tallaght, Liffey Valley Shopping Centre and Clondalkin.

R2 Objective 3:

To direct retail development in designated centres into the Core Retail Area of designated centres and restrict retail development outside of the Core Retail Area to an appropriate level and form of retail development.

The proposed new objective will state:

To direct new major retail floorspace in the County to designated centres of the appropriate level; and to further direct retail development in designated centres into the Core Retail Area of designated centres and restrict retail development outside of the Core Retail Area to an appropriate level and form of retail development.

The key difference between the existing Chief Executive’s objectives and the amalgamated proposed objective is the omission of the reference to the Retail Opportunity Sites.

Section 3.3 of the Retail Planning Guidelines 2012 (prepared by the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government) outline a number of minimum requirements for inclusion in the County Development Plan in relation to retail development. One such requirement is ‘to identify sites which can accommodate the needs of modern retail formats in a way that maintains the essential character of the shopping area’

The Chief Executive’s Draft Plan has mapped these sites as ‘Retail Opportunity Sites’ in the main retail centres of Tallaght (sites adjacent to/including Square & former Woodies site), Clondalkin (site adjacent to/including Mill centre) and Liffey Valley (Tesco application site and adjoining lands).

The intention of R2 Objective 2 is to promote these sites as the preferred location for retail development in the County and strengthen the application of the sequential test for assessing retail developments.

It is considered that the reference to the Retail Opportunity Sites in objective R2 Objective 2 should be retained.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the motion be adopted with amendment

To delete R2 Objective 2 and for R2 Objective 3 to state:

To direct new major retail floorspace in the County to designated centres of the appropriate level and the identified Retail Opportunity Sites; and to further direct retail development in designated centres into the Core Retail Area of designated centres and restrict retail development outside of the Core Retail Area to an appropriate level and form of retail development.