Given that I’m trying to get a new house in order, here’s a topic close to my heart right now — massive IKEA store approved for Dublin:
An Bord Pleanála has given the go-ahead for the construction of a massive IKEA outlet in the Ballymun area of Dublin. Legal restrictions on the size of retail developments had already been changed to allow the Swedish furniture giant to build a 30,000 square foot shop in the area. However, several objections were received from the National Roads Authority, Green Party TD Eamon Ryan and a number of businesses which said they would be adversely affected by a huge increase in traffic on the M50 motorway. An Bord Pleanála has now decided to grant permission for the project, subject to 30 conditions aimed at preventing traffic congestion, protecting the visual amenity of the area and promoting sustainable development.
This is long overdue, and something Ireland’s been crying out for — the price and quality of furniture here is dire. I’m glad to see it.
The details are up on An Bord Pleanala’s site, including the Board’s conditions. For ease of reading, I’ve converted it to HTML using OpenOffice.
This one strikes me as potentially annoying:
11 CommentsA schedule of parking charges shall be applied to car park users (other than coaches and buses which shall not be charged for parking during opening hours) […]
At least two months prior to the opening of the proposed development for trading, an initial schedule of charges shall be agreed in writing with the planning authority. Where the daily peak hour two-way traffic flows as measured by the automatic traffic counters do not comply with the thresholds set above, the schedule of parking charges shall be varied as directed by the planning authority until compliance is achieved, save that breaches or non-compliances of a very minor or trivial nature or arising from exceptional circumstances may be disregarded at the discretion of the planning authority.
Reason: To minimise traffic impacts and avoid serious traffic congestion.