Dunnes Stores win planning battle with locals over new Monkstown suburban outlet

Gordon Deegan

Retail giant Dunnes Stores has won a planning battle to secure the green light for a new suburban outlet at Monkstown in south Dublin.

This follows An Bord Pleanala granting planning permission to Dunnes Stores firm, Better Value Unlimited to redevelop a Diarmuid Gavin-led gardening shop and café it opened only in 2021, The Outer Spaces, in the south Dublin suburb.

The Monkstown proposal - which includes an off-licence and café along with a convenience store - is part of a drive by Dunnes Stores to roll out smaller suburban shops in the Dublin area.

The decision by the appeals board overturns a November 2021 decision by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to refuse planning permission for the extension and refurbishment of 14/15 Monkstown Crescent after 20 third party objections were lodged against the scheme by local residents.

The council refused planning permission after finding that the scheme would constitute overdevelopment and would be visually overbearing.

One of those to object was the Longford Terrace Residents Association which argued that with other Dunnes Stores outlets “surrounding” Monkstown village “there is no possible planning justification to now permit Dunnes Stores to open in a small historic village setting”.

The Dunnes Stores appeal argued that the proposal will not have a negative impact upon residential amenity of residences in the surrounding area or depreciate the value of any property in the vicinity.

The appeals board granted planning permission after its inspector, Fiona Fair concluded that the amendments proposed by the applicant overcome the concerns raised with respect to layout and design of the proposed extensions, including proximity to the surrounding boundaries.

Ms Fair stated that she did not consider that the proposed development “would be out of keeping with the receiving environment, would constitute overdevelopment, or would be visually overbearing”.

On objectors’ concerns that the Dunnes proposal would negatively impact property values locally, Ms Fair stated that given the zoning of the site, the long-established car sales use previously associated with the site, “I see no evidence to suggest or prove that a devaluation of adjoining property would arise”.

Ms Fair concluded that the scheme would not lead to an over-concentration of café/restaurant uses in the area and would not seriously injure the visual or residential amenities of the area or of property in the vicinity.