Dundrum Town Centre refused planning permission to keep using plaza for foodstalls
Seán McCárthaigh
The owner of Dundrum Town Centre has been refused planning permission to keep using part of a plaza near the main entrance to the shopping centre for food and beverage stalls and the staging of events because it was commercialising an area designed as a public space.
An Coimisiún Pleanála upheld the decision of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to reject an application for retention permission of the use of Town Square for food stalls with associated temporary street furniture as well as hosting occasional events and promotional activities.
Council planners had ruled that Town Square was one of the few public spaces in the area and permitting the retention of such use would “restrict the ability of the public to utilise this area for informal gathering, meeting and outdoor recreation.”
The Commission dismissed an appeal taken by the owner of the country’s largest shopping centre, Dundrum Retail GP DAC, against the council’s ruling,
An Coimisiún Pleanála said the proposed retention of the use of Town Square for such purposes results in the “commercialisation of an area of public space” which diminished its intended role as a public and recreational space.
The Commission said such a use negatively impacted the plaza’s ability to act as a distinct focal point for the area.
It said it would also be contrary to key principles of urban design set out in both Retail Planning Guidelines 2012 and the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Development Plan 2022-2028.
“The development proposed to be retained creates a barrier in a public space dedicated to pedestrians and the public,” it added.
The Commission said such use also obstructs views as well as creating visual clutter and negatively impacting on the overall environmental quality and urban design of Town Square.
It also noted it was contrary to several objectives of both the county development plan and the local area plan for Dundrum in relation to fast food outlets, public realm offering, placemaking and major town centres as well as to urban design.
The Commission said such objectives required the preservation and enhancement of the public realm, sense of place and provision of development which was “legible, well-connected and permeable.”
A planning inspector with An Coimisiún Pleanála noted there were four food stalls with associated bench and table seating operating in Town Square on the day of a site inspection, although the case has been based on the retention of three trailers.
The inspector said the trailers obstructed an area where the public gathered with views over the Mill Pond water feature.
A report by the inspector also revealed that the owner of Dundrum Town Centre had sought to regularise the planning status of such activities after it had been issued with a warning letter by the local authority.
The inspector claimed the centre’s proposals for staging events at Town Square were ambiguous in terms of actual number, scale and duration and she expressed concern about the potential for them to create “nuisance and noise.”
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council observed that that application was similar to another proposal for which it had previously refused planning permission in 2019.
As part of the appeal against the council’s ruling, consultants for Dundrum Retail GP, pointed out that the existing food and beverage stalls had been operating in Town Square for a number of years and had been “very well received” by existing businesses, customers and the general public.
They claimed the trailers were of high quality with consistent branding, materials and signage which reduced visual clutter and aligned “with the overall aesthetic of the Town Centre.”
They said the mobility of the food and beverage trailers also allowed the centre’s management to rotate the offerings and locations seasonally which minimised long-term visual impact and refreshed the streetscape.
Dundrum Retail GP noted that it controlled the amount of temporary seating which was limited with the purpose of providing informal seating like a public park rather than dedicated seating allocated to specific businesses.
It also argued that the trailers did not create a barrier to the movement of pedestrians in the shopping centre but had brought people to an area of “dead space.”
The company claimed the council was incorrect to suggest that the food stalls were having an impact on other similar businesses in the area as it was not the purpose of the planning system to inhibit competition.
On the contrary, it argued the food stalls added to the vitality and viability of Dundrum Town Centre by driving footfall and encouraging social interaction.
