New planning guidelines on retail development, due to be published today, would ban any further large-scale, out-of-town shopping centres outside Dublin and its hinterland, The Irish Times has learned.
The guidelines, in draft form to allow for a period of public consultation, are intended to reinforce an interim prohibition imposed last June by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, on "superstores" with more than 3,000 sq. metres of retail space.
Subsequently, British planning consultants, Roger Tym and Partners, in association with Jonathon Blackwell and Associates, were appointed to draw up detailed planning guidelines to guide all the local authorities in dealing with the provision of new retail space.
Because of the booming economy and the likelihood that this would continue for a number of years, it is understood that the consultants anticipate that a large volume of new shopping facilities will be required; the question is where these would be located.
The draft guidelines discourage out-of-town centres largely because of the traffic they generate as well as their potential impact on the vitality of cities and towns, according to sources. Thus, they are to be considered only if alternative sites cannot be found.
The consultants say new development should be located either within or on the edge of town centres with a presumption against development elsewhere, except to meet neighbourhood needs. They should be accessible by public transport.
The retail guidelines closely follow the Strategic Planning Guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area, by putting the emphasis on concentration and consolidation rather than continued sprawl.
The latest guidelines are believed to state there is "no justification in any circumstances" for large-scale regional shopping centres outside the Dublin area.
