An Bord Pleanála warned the Government that easing planning guidelines to allow for furniture superstores such as Ikea to establish in Ireland would inhibit competition, add to traffic congestion and seriously damage small businesses and town centres.
In a written submission to the Department of the Environment in October 2003, a year before the cap on retail space was lifted, the board said the then guidelines had been "working beneficially in terms of proper planning and sustainable development".
The submission said there "was no evidence to date of pressure on the cap threshold" and that the main impetus was to allow large operators into Ireland, to open stores five times greater than the then cap of 6,000sq m.
This is believed to be a reference to reports at the time of a willingness of furniture superstore Ikea to open in Ireland if the guidelines were relaxed.
The board said that "any major relaxation of the current guidelines may be seen as a response to the demands of one or two companies, thereby damaging the credibility of a retail policy generally".
The board warned that such a move would "place significantly greater pressure on strategic and local road networks".
"If the green light were given to 'megastore' type outlets, these would inevitably be located on national routes, lead to more unsustainable travel patterns associated with shopping and, depending on location, may also lead to congestion on national routes," the submission said.
It also stated: "The Bord is not aware of any evidence of showing that the cap on retail warehouses is inhibiting effective competition in any sector.
"However, there is a risk that the lifting of the cap . . . could lead to regional (if not higher) level monopolies which might ultimately create less competitive conditions overall for consumers." The submission said that the relaxation would lead to "one or two megastore-type outlets" in the Dublin area or on the east coast, which would reinforce current regional imbalances.
"The policies of these companies in the sourcing of merchandise could result in serious damage to small diverse businesses . . . and trades.
"Also, the fact that retail warehouses are increasingly engaged in sale of comparison goods could have a damaging impact on the pattern of shopping in town centres, detract from the viability and vitality of town centres and create negative public investment in urban renewal."
Despite the board's advice, in January the Government relaxed the cap to allow for retail warehouses selling durable goods such as furniture in urban regeneration areas and in major towns designated as gateways under the current national spatial strategy.