Aldi refused permission for Ardee store

Aldi’s hopes of setting up in Ardee appear to have been dealt a fatal blow after An Bord Pleanála voted unanimously to uphold Louth County Council’s decision to refuse them planning permission for a new store on the outskirts of the town.

The German supermarket giant first proposed to set up a store at The Glebe on a 2.9 acre site beside the closed McCabe’s Toyota Garage back in March.

However, the application was rejected by local planners before Aldi lodged an appeal to the decision in June.

An Bord Pleanála have decided to quash the application on three counts. Firstly that its out-of-town location “would have an advertse effect on the viability and vitality of the town centre.”

They also ruled that the land in question was not zoned for retail and would therefore contravene with the Local Area Plan. They also had fears of the supermarket’s impact on the N33 national road, which links Derry and Letterkenny with the M1 motorway to Dublin.

The proposed land that the store would have been built on is bound by the N33 Ardee Link Road to the south and the R171 Tallanstown Road to the west. Access to the supermarket would have been from the R171 Tallanstown Road.

In May Louth County Council rejected the supermarket retailer’s plans for a new store in the Mid-Louth town on four counts – the three mentioned by An Bord Pleanála and the other relating to capacity constraints on the Ardee Waste Water Treatment System.

Aldi had been hoping to build a single storey discount foodstore and off licence at the site. It would have had a gross floor area of 1,551 square metres, with a retail area of 1,140 square metres.

The development would also have included the erection of two double pole, free standing, double sided internally illuminated signs with a double sided opening hours sign at lower level located adjacent to the proposed vehicular entrance to the site from the R171 and adjacent to the pedestrian entrance from the N33 Ardee Link Road.

There would also have been one single sided internally illuminated gable sign on the south west gable, one single sided internally illuminated entrance door sign and two single sided free standing internally illuminated poster display signs.

The proposed development would have been served by 90 car parking spaces and 10 bicycle spaces and included a request for permission for all landscaping, boundary treatment, engineering and site development works.

There is already a Lidl store on the opposite side of Ardee, as well as Lanney’s SuperValu in the town centre. Previous attempts by Tesco to set up a store in Ardee over the years were met with stiff resistance.

There had been six objections to the initial Aldi application from Escadia Limited, Vincent Matthews from Dromin, Padraig Malone of Malone Oil Products Ltd, Tara Buckley of RGDATA in Blackrock, Co Dublin, Tesco Ireland and Hughie O’Neill of O’Neill’s Menswear in Castle Street, Ardee.

Aldi appeal decision to refuse planning for Ardee store

Aldi have appealed Louth County Council’s decision to refuse them planning permission for a new store on the outskirts of Ardee.

The proposed store would be located at The Glebe on a 2.9 acre site beside the closed McCabe’s Toyota Garage.

The proposed land that the store would be built on is bound by the N33 Ardee Link Road to the south and the R171 Tallanstown Road to the west. Access to the supermarket would be from the R171 Tallanstown Road.

Last month the council rejected the supermarket retailer’s plans for a new store in the Mid-Louth town on four counts. They included the fact that the store would be out of the town centre and therefore could have an effect on the “viability and vitality of the town centre of Ardee.”

They also pointed out that the land that was earmarked for the development was zoned for mixed commercial/business use and not retail.

They also had reservations on what impact the entrance to the facility would have on the use of the national road and offer capacity constraints on the Ardee Waste Water Treatment System.

In their response Aldi said they felt they had justified the positioning of the store and that they “demonstrated that the proposed development would have no material impact on the vitality and viability of Ardee town centre.” They furthermore added that there “is a demonstrable need for additional convenience provision in the town.” They also state that the store would support the town by attracting “significant additional retail trade” to Ardee by clawing back trade from nearby towns – also offering “significant spin off benefits to other shops.”

They also said they felt the other issues could be dealt with appropriately, pointing out that they had provided a detailed traffic impact assessment and that the waste water system’s load would only be increased by 0.1% as a result of the store.

Aldi are hoping to build a single storey discount foodstore and off licence at the site. It would have a gross floor area of 1,551 square metres, with a retail area of 1,140 square metres.

The development would also include the erection of two double pole, free standing, double sided internally illuminated signs with a double sided opening hours sign at lower level located adjacent to the proposed vehicular entrance to the site from the R171 and adjacent to the pedestrian entrance from the N33 Ardee Link Road.

There would also be one single sided internally illuminated gable sign on the south west gable, one single sided internally illuminated entrance door sign and two single sided free standing internally illuminated poster display signs.

The proposed development will be served by 90 car parking spaces and 10 bicycle spaces and includes permission for all landscaping, boundary treatment, engineering and site development works.

There is already a Lidl store on the opposite side of Ardee, as well as Lanney’s SuperValu in the town centre. Previous attempts by Tesco to set up a store in Ardee over the years were met with stiff resistance.

There had been six objections to the initial Aldi application from Escadia Limited, Vincent Matthews from Dromin, Padraig Malone of Malone Oil Products Ltd, Tara Buckley of RGDATA in Blackrock, Co Dublin, Tesco Ireland and Hughie O’Neill of O’Neill’s Menswear in Castle Street, Ardee.

Ardee bar, restaurant and coffee shop goes on the market

The Hill Side Bar & Grill in Ardee has gone on the market for €250,000 with local estate agents Sherry FitzGerald Carroll.

The two storey premises at 29-31 Market Street extends to 717 square metres or 7,722 sq ft and is laid out to provide a public house licensed premises and a separate self-contained coffee shop at ground floor level, together with a large open area on the first floor.

The bar, which extends to an external gross area of 352 square metres/3,797 sq ft consists of a restaurant, bar, kitchen, toilets, pool room and an enclosed yard area.

The bar and restaurant is described as being finished to a high standard with full bar facilities, built in leather finish customer seating, timber flooring through and timber feature wall panelling.

The kitchen area is furnished to a high modern commercial standard and has a tild floor with steel worktops, prep areas and a serving counter to the restaurant.

Separate access is provided for the bar and coffee shop, while externally to the rear of the property is a smoking area and enclosed yard.

Rear access to the property for deliveries is provided via Ashwalk at the rear of Lanney’s SuperValu.

Further details are available on www.sherryfitz.ie