An Bord Pleanala's refusal to grant planning permission for the £18 million redevelopment of Stillorgan Shopping Centre in Co Dublin over-turned the recommendation of the planning inspector who conducted an oral hearing into the case.
The inspector, Ruairi Somers, recommended that the objections by local residents be disallowed and the development be permitted, subject to 23 conditions which would have addressed the concerns of the residents about traffic, noise and being overlooked. The board's decision to over-turn the recommendations of its inspector is unusual; in the majority of cases it adopts the recommendations put to it.
The applicant, Treasury Holdings, is to re-apply for permission in the light of the board's ruling and the reasons it gave for its refusal. Richard Barrett of the company said: "We're re-applying and we will be factoring the three grounds for refusal into the application."
Mr Barrett also added Treasury had factored into its rejected application the reasons why the previous board had refused permission for an earlier redevelopment of Stillorgan. He criticised what he described as an absence of certainty on planning matters when one board's arguments were not accepted by a subsequent board. The new application would cost another £570,000 and take another 18 months, he added.
The proposed development at Stillorgan would have more than doubled the size of the shopping centre, the first of its kind in the State, to a total floor area of almost 807,000 sq ft. The plans provided for raising the low-level building to four storeys and the development of much of the existing car-park to be replaced by parking within the new centre.
Permission was granted by Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Council but appealed by 15 third-party groups of local residents and individuals. It was also opposed by other shopping centres in the general area. Treasury Holdings also appealed against two of the conditions.
An Bord Pleanala upheld the residents' objections, ruling that the proposed development would create serious traffic congestion and that the increase in retail space did not take sufficient account of a 1982 ministerial policy directive on shopping centres which referred to the adequacy of existing shopping facilities as a relevant consideration. It also said the proposal would amount to "over-development of the site" and seriously injure the amenities of houses in the vicinity.
In his report, however, Mr Somers concluded that the overall design concept of the enlarged shopping centre and its creation of streetscapes along the Lower Kilmacud Road and the Dublin Road was acceptable. He also concluded that the redevelopment and expansion of the centre, subject to conditions, was reasonable and conformed with the 1998 general policy directive on shopping, was acceptable in terms of traffic safety and convenience, and would not seriously injure the amenities of property in its vicinity.
Mr Somers rejected arguments that the redevelopment would upset the Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown development plan which allows for two town centres in the area - Dun Laoghaire and Dundrum - and district centres of which Stillorgan is one. He found the expansion of the shopping centre was reasonable within the context of this hierarchy and in view of population growth and increased spending in the area.
IT also conformed with the 1998 general policy directive on shopping which restricts supermarkets to less than 32,000 sq ft and lays down a number of other issues to be taken into account when considering planning applications.
He said a re-modelling and expansion of the shopping centre was compatible with the 1998 directive, given the well-established nature of the existing centre, its location in a densely populated and affluent area and the reasonable necessity to assert Stillorgan's position within the retail hierarchy of the area. But he added that the scale of increase would seem to be somewhat excessive given the development plan's policy of maintaining the broad hierarchy of the area and particularly the status of Dundrum as a town centre.
In relation to traffic and parking, the inspector noted that congestion, parking on residential roads and excessive noise were already significant problems in Stillorgan. Against that background as well, he suggested that the level of planned expansion was somewhat excessive.
But the substitution of car parking for some of the second-floor areas in the planned centre would have the advantage of moderately reducing the floor area while improving the accessibility of parking, he concluded. He also said parking in the expanded centre should continue to be free in order to discourage on-street parking around it.
