Swords parish in County Dublin has controversially agreed to sell
part of a land bank containing a former parochial house to discount
supermarket chain Aldi.
The sale of 0.6 hectares by St Colmcille's Parish will enable it to
clear an overdraft of €1.3m and generate funds to build a new parish
centre on the same site.
But the plan has generated considerable local
opposition, with several local representatives saying the development of
an Aldi store on the Seatown Road is inappropriate.
For some years, the parish has been planning new parish offices and
meeting rooms but decided to shelve those plans earlier this year for
financial reasons.
The development of both the supermarket and parish centre is
dependent on planning permission from Fingal County Council, and this
week significant opposition to the plans have emerged.
The existing two-storey redbrick former parish centre is a protected
structure, a constraint that plans for both developments will have to
take into account.
Opposition to the proposals is likely to be based on the impact a
supermarket and 90 parking spaces would have on traffic levels on a road
that serves a number of schools as well as being one of the main routes
into the town centre.
Swords parish pastoral council said this week
that the offer was subject to planning permission but would “afford us
the opportunity to pay off our current overdraft of €1.3m and should
enable us to fund and proceed with the parish office and centre
development.”
The proposal, it said was “a very good opportunity” to develop the
facility but warned that “if planning permission is not granted the sale
of the site does not go ahead.”
The reaction of some local politicians of all parties suggests that this is very much in the balance.
Labour councillor Tom Kelleher said he would object on safety
grounds, saying that from a planning point of view, the development
would be a “disaster” while Fianna Fáil councillor
Darragh Butler said
his initial reaction was that “it’s not a suitable location.”
Fine Gael’s Anne Devitt said it was “totally, absolutely and completely the wrong location” for an Aldi store.
SIC: CIN/IE