Sustainable Retail Development

An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the

Retail Planning Guidelines

Prepared on behalf of

RGDATA

By

M A C C A B E  D U R N E Y

&

September 2008

CONTENTS

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Page

              Executive Summary                                                                           5

1                         Introduction                                                                                      7

1.1           Objectives of the Retail Planning Guidelines                                   7

1.2           Retail Strategies                                                                         9

1.3           The Guidelines in Practice                                                           9

2                         Retail Issues and Policies in Selected Countries                              11

2.1          Introduction                                                                               11

2.2          USA                                                                                          11

2.3          UK / Northern Ireland                                                                  13

2.4          France                                                                                       20

2.5          Denmark                                                                                    21

2.6          Hungary                                                                         24

2.7          Summary                                                                                   25

3                         Development Trends and Economic Issues                          27

3.1          Development Trends                                                                   27

3.2          Locational Trends                                                                       27

3.3          Future Population Growth                                                            27

3.4          Retail Sales                                                                                27

3.5          Employment                                                                               28

3.6     Correlation between Growth in Floorspace and Retail Sales            28

3.7     Competition issues                                                                     30

3.8     Summary                                                                                  31

4                         Case-Studies                                                                                     32       

4.1     Sligo - A Gateway City                                                                32

4.2     Athlone - a Linked Gateway                                                         33

4.3     Enniscorthy - An Urban Opportunity                                             34

4.4     Donegal - A County Town                                                           35

4.5     Youghal - An Historic Town                                                         37

5                         Review of Local Authority and An Bord Pleanala Decisions            39

5.1        Analysis of Local Authority and An Bord Pleanala Decisions 39

6          Supporting Policies                                                                              39

6.1     Introduction                                                                               41

6.2     National Policy                                                                            41

6.3     Regional Policy                                                                           43

6.4     Development Plans                                                                     45

6.5     Local Area Plans and Planning Schemes                                       48

6.6     Summary                                                                                  49

7          Financial Instruments                                                              50

            7.1        Introduction                                                                               50

            7.2        Development Contributions                                                          50

            7.3        Other Local Authority Funding                                                      52

            7.4        Business Improvement Districts Act 2006                          55

            7.5        Parking Charges                                                                         56

            7.6        Summary                                                                                  57

8          Urban Design and Architecture                                                          58

8.1        Introduction                                                                               58

8.2        Trends in Planning Authority Assessment                          58

8.3        Corporate Responsibility                                                              59

8.4        Trends and Architectural Design                                                  59

8.5        Design Preference                                                                      61

8.6        Car Parking and Landscaping                                                       62

8.7        Summary                                                                                  63

9          Strategy Preparation, Monitoring and Impact Assessment  64

            9.1        Introduction                                                                               64

            9.2        Retail Strategies                                                                         64

            9.3        Data Collection, Analysis and Monitoring                                       66

            9.4        Retail Impact Assessment                                                           67

            9.5        Summary                                                                                  68

APPENDICES

Appendix A - Table 3 - Review of An Bord Pleanala Decisions

Executive Summary

The purpose of this Report is to assess the functioning and effectiveness of the Retail Planning Guidelines since their introduction in 2000.  In particular, the impact on the vitality and vibrancy of Town Centres is assessed.  The Report also examines the record of the Planning Authorities and An Bord Pleanala in dealing with applications for retail development and examines issues of competition equity between Town Centre based retail developments and those in Out of Town locations.

The principal conclusions that can be taken from the Study area as follows:-

·            All European countries have experienced a move towards Out of Town retailing with large Store formats.  Virtually all have noted negative effects on their existing Town Centres and have sought to exercise controls on retail location to protect the vitality of the existing Town Centres.

·            The provision of retail floorspace in Ireland during the period since the introduction of the Guidelines has been very substantial and the Guidelines have not inhibited such growth.

·            There would appear to be no significant employment expansion in the retail sector directly related to the significant increase in floorspace.

·            Levels of growth in terms of space provision especially in the retail park/warehouse sector is unlikely to be unavailable in the future.

·            The caps on floorspace have not restricted new entrants nor expansion of floorspace overall.

·            Active Town management is required by Local Authorities.

·            Local Area Plans and Planning Schemes provided a good framework within which to facilitate development in Town Centre management.

·            An even playing field needs to be established to allow Town Centre development to compete successfully with existing Out of Town Centres, particularly in relation to parking charges and rates payable.

·            Opportunities for funding Town Centre improvement under the Gateway Innovation Fund should be explored.

·            The architectural quality of many centres is relatively poor compared to the rise in standards in other sectors.

·            Joint retail planning strategies should be prepared for all main urban areas in accordance with the Guidelines.

·            Consideration should be given to making joint strategies the responsibility of the relevant Regional Authorities and there should be a statutory requirement to prepare them.

·            Baseline data on retail floorspace, expenditure and population trends needs to be collected on a regular basis at the national, regional and local levels.   Appropriate mechanisms should be put in place to ensure that this information is collated and a national agency or unit could be established.

·            Strategies need to be annually monitored and reviewed before the expiry of the Development Plan, if necessary.

1                      Introduction

1.1       Objectives of the Retail Planning Guidelines

Retail Planning guidance first emerged in 1982 as a General Policy Directive which gave general advice regarding large scale additions to existing retail shopping capacity but did not provide sufficiently focussed and specific criteria for assessing proposals or for preparing Development Plans.  Accordingly in 2000, in the context of unprecedented retail developments and the introduction of new format retail outlets to Ireland, the Department of Environment and Local Government issued new Guidelines to which Planning Authorities and An Bord Pleanala should have regard to in assessing major retail applications.

In the review leading to the Guidelines, the Consultants[1] observed that a clear-cut retail hierarchy may be observed comprising:-

o        Metropolitan Dublin containing a little over 30% of the total population but accounting for 41% of comparison turnover and 31% of convenience turnover.

o        Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford with a combined population of 10% of the State but accounting for a further 19% of comparison turnover and 15% of convenience turnover.

o        A Third Tier of Towns including Athlone, Carlow, Castlebar, Clonmel, Drogheda, Dundalk, Ennis, Kilkenny, Letterkenny,  Monaghan, Mullingar, Newbridge, Portlaoise, Tralee, Tullamore and Wexford whose combined population amounted to 6% of the State total and accounted for a further 18% of comparison turnover. 

The Consultants identified an upcoming pressure for development and observed that between 1987 - 1998 some 400,000 sq m had been implemented in schemes over 2,000 sq m and there were proposals to develop a further 500,000 sq m of additional floorspace.  They noted the increasing demand for large Store sizes and the difficulty of accommodating these in traditional Town Centres and the consequent move to decentralise large-scale retail provision to Out of Centre locations.  They noted the unprecedented level of growth in Ireland and that the continuation of this would generate a requirement for a substantial addition to the existing stock.  In order to resolve these pressures, the Guidelines identified five policy objectives:-

(a)    Ensure that all Development Plans incorporate clear policies in its proposals for retail development.

(b)    Facilitate a competitive and healthy environment for the retail industry of the future and avoid actions, which would adversely affect competition in the retail market.

(c)     Locate retail development where it is most accessible to customers both by public transport and private car and consequently promote forms of development in locations, which encourage multi-purpose shopping, business and leisure trips in the same journey.

(d)    Support the continuing role of Town and District Centres as preferred locations for developments that attract many trips. In the event that no appropriate sites are available, the next preference should be a location on the Edge of the Town Centre and only where there are no sites or potential sites within a Town Centre or on its Edge or satisfactory transport accessibility, should Out of Centre development be contemplated.

(e)    It is a basic presumption of the Guidelines that large retail centres located adjacent or close to existing, new or planned national roads/motorways are unacceptable as they lead to an inefficient use of costly and valuable infrastructure and serve to defeat the regional/national transport objectives for the road concerned.

The Guidelines were amended in January 2005 to reflect the evidence of consumer demand for innovative types of large-scale retail warehouses which are capable of displaying a very wide range of goods under one roof, together with a range of customer facilities and which have a regional, if not national, population catchment.  Accordingly, a previously stated 6,000 sq m floorspace cap on individual retail warehouses was lifted in those areas which were the subject of Integrated Area Plans (IAP's) under the Urban Renewal Act 1998 and National Spatial Strategy (NSS) Gateways, if such proposals would:-

• Be located close to road networks with sufficient capacity to cater for developments of the scale proposed.
• Be served by existing or planned public transport services.
• Make adequate provision for those opting for home delivery of goods rather than by private car.
• Be accompanied by a Traffic Impact Assessment demonstrating compliance with the above criteria.
• Take account of the vitality/viability criteria in respect of city/town centres as set out in the Guidelines.

1.2              Retail Strategies

In order to integrate development planning with the concerns of the Guidelines, certain Planning Authorities were obliged to prepare Retail Policies for their administrative areas either individually or jointly.  These Strategies should contain advice on:-

• Confirmation of the retail hierarchy
• The role of Centres and the size of the main Town Centres
• Definition in the Development Plan of the boundaries of the core shopping areas of Town Centres
• A broad assessment of the requirements for additional retail floorspace
• Strategic guidance on the location and scale of retail development
• Preparation of policies and action initiatives to encourage the improvement of Town Centres
• Identification of criteria for the assessment of retail developments.

The Guidelines urge Planning Authorities to provide a broad identification of the general scale of development envisaged at various locations, as well as the precise boundary of the core retail of Town Centres and to identify specific alternative sites for development or where this is not possible, to establish criteria for the selection of sites.  Correspondingly, traffic management policies to be adopted for Town Centres should include the need for convenient public transport facilities and bus priority measures, the provision and location of car parking (including "park & ride" or "park & walk" schemes), routes for pedestrians and cyclists and disabled people to access the Town Centre and the need for traffic calming measures.  These strategies are required to be provided in the first two Tiers of Towns, whilst the remainder of the State Authorities were required to provide assessments of requirements for additional development reflecting the local evidence of market interests and the need to provide good opportunities for retail provision to serve the main population centres in the County.

Finally, a cap was placed on sales floorspace of Foodstores in the Greater Dublin Area of 3,500 sq m and a 3,000 sq m elsewhere.

To date, all Irish Planning Authorities have prepared such Retail Strategies.  Some are more precise than others in their identification of the quantum and location of future shopping.

1.3              The Guidelines in Practice

There is no doubt that the Guidelines (and to a certain extent the previous General Policy Directives) have resulted in a more sophisticated approach by Planning Authorities towards the location and provision of major retail shopping than existed previously.  Virtually all major Shopping Centres proposed or constructed, since the advent of the Guidelines have been located on appropriately identified sites generally in Town Centre or on the Edge of Centres.

In practice however, a number of issues have given rise to confusion such as:-

• The acceptability of retail shopping in zones, which are designated for "commercial purposes".  though the intention of the Planning Authority may have been to reserve these for ordinary office or business uses.
• The operation of the Sequential Test is frequently problematical as to whether viable sites are available in the short term and if not, whether Out of Centre shopping should be found acceptable.
• The inability or unwillingness of Planning Authorities to actively collect and monitor the necessary information on the retail health of their Town Centres.
• The lack of a centralised national database to update information on a rapidly changing retail scene.
• Insufficient consideration being given to inequities in the parking and traffic management schemes applying to edge of town/out of town outlets vis-à-vis town centre retail areas.

2                      Retail Issues and Policies in Selected Countries

2.1                   Introduction

This Chapter provides a review of retailing trends and planning policies in other selected countries in North America and Europe. The legislative planning instruments are considered, policy objectives reviewed, common issues are highlighted and conclusions are drawn. The countries selected for review have been chosen because they are at different stages of retail development and policy evolution. 

While some of the trends may be regarded as unique to the particular country studied having regard to their economic, social and political structures, many common themes may be identified and lessons can be learnt in terms of the evolution of retail development and the policies adopted to address the common issues and problems that arise from these market trends.

2.2                   USA

Trends

The United States was the first western economy to experience significant decentralisation and suburbanisation of retailing development in the 1950s and 1960s. This was strongly associated with the growth in car ownership and suburban sprawl in the post war period. Many inner city areas were left without effective retail provision to provide for the needs of their resident populations.

The proliferation of suburban shopping malls and out-of-town centres is reflected by the rise of Wal Mart, KMart and Target retailers offering low prices and a variety of products. These retailers have developed the ‘big box' format, which are industrial style buildings that generally range from 2,000 sqm to 20,000 sqm of gross floor area. These big boxes have provided for the full range of comparison, convenience and discount retailing. Recent trends in American retail development include the emergence of the ‘supercentre', which combines discount comparison goods in combination with convenience grocery shopping within the one store, which is generally in excess of 15,000 sqm in gross floor area. These stores have invariably been located in out-of-town locations. Other retail trends include ‘drive through' stores (e.g. pharmacies) and ‘category killers' in formats up to 20,000 sqm which offer a large selection of products in a particular type of product category. ‘Outlet stores' ranging between 2,000 sqm and 8,000 sqm are the discount arms of Department Stores.

There is evidence[2] to indicate that developers and retailers are considering locating big boxes downtown, in response to pressure from local communities and planning authorities. A further problem that has emerged across the United States, is the ‘ghost box', which is a superstore lying vacant for a considerable period of time, with no apparent alternative use.

Issues

The American debate on retailing has centred on balancing the need to ensure competition in the retail market, whilst avoiding the adverse impacts upon:

§         local identity

§         diversity of retailing provision

§         wages

§         job displacement

§         visual impact in an existing urban area

§         traffic

Much of the emphasis in the debate is placed upon attempting to fit these large new centres into the existing urban fabric, whilst mitigating their worse environmental impacts. The issue of protecting the vitality and viability of existing centres does not arise to the same extent as it does in Europe, as historic city and town centres do not exist in the same fashion and there is a higher car ownership and car dependency level in North America.

Current Regulatory Framework and Policy Response

The federal system in the US means that there are no national policy directives on retail planning issues. The regulatory planning framework is governed by a system of ordinances and zonings set down by individual planning authorities and the planning system is the principal means by which retail development is regulated. Responding to pressures to address the adverse social, economic and physical impacts of big box retailing has resulted in a number of different approaches from planning authorities. These include:

a)                  Moratoria - These are generally interim measures passed by local authorities to place a prohibition on major new retail development to allow for the development of policy and the preparation of impact assessments (e.g. Oakland City, the City of Fort Collins)

b)                  Ordinance Restricting Size of Store - Some local authorities adopt restrictions on store sizes. For example, Skaneatles, New York, limits retail development to no more than 4,180 sqm (45,000 sqft) of gross floor area and Rockville, Maryland, limits retail development of over 6,030 sqm (65,000 sqft) in certain zones[3].  Generally the restrictions on Store sizes are between 2,787 sqm (30,000 sqft) and 9,290 sqm (100,000 sqft) of gross floor area.

c)                   Economic Impact Ordinances - These are social and economic impact assessments that are required for retail developments of a certain size. They consider the impacts upon such things as prices, employment, wages, existing businesses, land budgets and the economic benefits and disbenefits. These ordinances are in effect across the US and examples are to be found in Los Angeles and Oakland City, where such impact assessments are required for Stores in excess of 9,290 sqm (100,000 sqft)[4].

d)                  Design Reviews - There is considerable concern regarding the visual impact of these new retail ‘big box' formats and these ordinances attempt to break up the scale and massing of the structures and integrate them with their surroundings. Greater emphasis is now placed upon a safe and comfortable environment for pedestrians, encouraging a mix of uses and reducing the visual impact of large swathes of car parking.

e)                  Traffic Impact Assessments - The emphasis of these assessments is to manage vehicular traffic generated by these developments. Little emphasis is placed upon accessibility by public transport.

f)                    White Elephant Ordinances - Given the liberal approach to permitting big box retailing over the last 20 to 30 years, attempts to address the issue of redundant structures has been reflected in ordinances requiring the payment of demolition bonds in the event of prolonged period of vacancy (e.g. Wisconsin).

2.3                   UK/Northern Ireland

The UK retailing sector has had the biggest impact upon Irish retailing in terms of retail development trends, location of UK multiples in Ireland and the policy response. 

Trends

The late 1980s experienced considerable growth in out of town retailing, facilitated by the liberal economic policies of the Thatcher Government and it was during this period that large regional shopping centres at Meadowhall, Merry Hill and the Metro Centre were developed. The first PPG 6[5] was issued in 1988 and it took a largely ‘laissez faire' approach, stipulating that local authorities should not inhibit competition.

Nevertheless, retail sales slowed for a number of years commencing with the economic recession in 1991 and schemes opening fell to only 70,000 sqm per annum in 1994 having reached a peak of 700,000 sqm per annum in 1990.  However, the adverse impact which new regional and out-of-town centres gave rise to in the mid 1980s and early 1990s was recognised. A revised PPG6[6] was issued in 1993 and the new version referred to the need to secure a more balanced approach to town centre and out-of-town development and elaborated on how the
vitality and viability of town centres might be assessed.

Fig 1 Annual Floorspace Completions

While the 1980s and early 1990s were dominated by out-of-town foodstores, retail warehouses and regional shopping centres, the second half of the 1990s showed the emergence of:

§         ‘big box' retailing

§         small format city centre foodstores

§         the evolution of retail parks selling fashion goods

§         warehouse clubs and factory outlets

§         sale of non-food goods and services by supermarkets

§         internet shopping

In 1996 the Guidelines[7] were again amended with a tightening of policy on out-of-town retail development. There was an emphasis on a Plan led system, with use of the sequential method of site selection.

Since the introduction of the 1996 Guidelines, there has been general sustained growth in the UK economy. A full evaluation of the effectiveness of PPG6 was undertaken[8] in 2004. It was found that most developers were operating within the terms of the Guidelines. The development of regional shopping centres has been stopped, but their limited supply is likely to ensure that permitted pipeline development and those recently opened are likely to have an advantage. Notwithstanding the proactive aspect of PPG6 in terms of local authority promoting town centres and assembling suitable sites, the guidance has been used principally as a development control tool. While it has been effective in curtailing out-of-town development, it has been less successful in re-directing or diverting activity back into town centres, especially smaller centres.

There has been a general concentration of comparison shopping in fewer larger centres. Principles of sustainable development are reflected in a greater percentage of mixed use schemes in town centre locations, although the size of these schemes is large. However, the overall proportion of high street sales has declined since 1996. [9]The evidence indicates that out-of-town retail warehousing parks have been curtailed, with a higher percentage of edge- of-centre proposals coming forward for development. The experience of convenience shopping has been mixed over the last decade, with a significant decline in out-of-town centres and an increase in town centre development. Tescos and Sainsburys, in particular, have responded to the Guidelines with the development of smaller town centre formats, but there has also been a significant move by the retailers into comparison shopping with the development of superstores or big boxes selling CDs, clothing, kitchenware and toys in addition to food. This reflects North American trends.

The policy evaluation of PPG6 indicates that while overall there has been a modest shift back to town centres, smaller regional and market towns are not benefiting and are the most vulnerable to changes in economic and consumer trends. Furthermore, there are also regional differences, with Superstores permitted more in the north of England, where unemployment is still a consideration. 

Issues

The evaluation of PPG6 by the Office of Deputy Prime Minister found that the perceived overarching objective of the Guidelines was to sustain and enhance town centres. A number of issues have emerged in relation to recent retail development trends and the application of planning policies:

§         There was a problem of balancing certainty with retailers' demands, changing consumer behaviour, local economic circumstances and changing economic conditions.

§         Local authorities were not being proactive in terms of assembling suitable sites or undertaking the required research to maintain the statistical basis underpinning policies or in measuring vitality and viability of centres.

§         There was no real guidance on leisure and other town centre uses, including offices and residential.

§         The local plan adoption process was cumbersome, lengthy and often the policies contained therein conflicted with national policy.

§         Difficulties had emerged with the application of the sequential approach and the carrying out of retail impact assessments, as there was no agreed methodology.

§         There was a need to distinguish between policy and best practice guidance.

§         It was considered that regional guidance was required to guide retail development having regard to the hierarchy of centres, ranging from city centre, through town centres, district centre to local and village centres.

§         The scale of town centre developments and their impacts also needed to be considered, particularly in terms of design, bulk and massing.

§         The Social Exclusion Unit of the Cabinet Office in its report[10] suggests that larger retailers lack interest in investing in smaller centres, particularly in deprived areas resulting in the potential ‘food deserts'.

§         ‘Clone towns' resulting from the predominance of the same multiple retailers has resulted in a loss of diversity and identity[11].

§         There has been considerable concern over the impact of large stores on competition[12].

Current Regulatory Framework and Planning Policy Response

The preparation of Development Plans (structure, local and unitary development plans) is the responsibility of local authorities  - a mixture of counties, districts and unitary authorities in England, unitary authorities in Wales, and counties and districts in Scotland. Following devolution in Northern Ireland all planning functions are the responsibility of the Department of the Environment in the Province.

In 2005, PPG6 was replaced with PPS6[13]. The Guidelines are to be enforced through regional spatial strategies and local Development Plans. The underlying policy approach is to promote town centres, rather than merely attempting to direct retail development. A greater emphasis is placed upon the proactive role of the local authority in site assembly, the promotion of town centre management and regular monitoring and review.  The importance of sustaining market towns and local centres is recognised by the Guidelines.  "Market towns and villages should be the main service centres in rural areas, providing a range of facilities, shops and services at a scale appropriate to the needs and size of their catchment areas.  They should provide a focus for economic development and rural-based industries, including markets for locally produced food and other products and for tourism.  However, the health and vitality of many of these towns has declined in recent years and many more are vulnerable to changing economic and lifestyle patterns."

The key Government objective is to promote the viability and vitality of town centres. Policies to support an innovative and competitive retailing sector are balanced with the objectives of supporting consumer choice and diversity and in ensuring accessibility by all and serving the whole of the community, particularly socially excluded groups. The other supplementary objectives are as follows:

1.              Develop a hierarchy and network of centres;

2.              Assess the need for further main town centres uses and ensure there is capacity to accommodate them;

3.              Focus development in, and plan for the expansion of, existing centres as appropriate, and at the local level identify appropriate sites in Development Plan documents;

4.              Promote town centre management, creating partnerships to develop, improve and maintain the town centre and manage the evening and night-time economy; and

5.              Regularly monitor and review the impact and effectiveness of policies for promoting vital and viable town centres.

Town centre uses covered by the guidance are:

§         retailing (including warehouse clubs and factory outlets)

§         leisure, entertainment facilities, (including restaurants, drive through restaurants, bars, clubs, health and fitness centres)

§         offices

§         arts, cultural and tourism

§         residential in mixed used multi-storey developments

In new town centre schemes, mixed-use higher density multi-storey developments with a diversity of uses, including either residential or offices, are promoted. Planning authorities need to ensure a high quality of design of new buildings and public spaces.

In Northern Ireland the regional strategy[14] was prepared in 2001 and outlined a broad policy in relation to the development of retailing in the province, with Belfast and Londonderry designated as the principal regional centres and a policy of restraint was applied to out-of-town retailing. A draft policy statement on retailing and town centres (PPS5)[15] has been issued for public consultation.   The objectives are reflective of PPS6 applicable in England, although the Guidelines are tailored to reflect the regional requirements of Northern Ireland. These Guidelines would still have to be translated into local Development Plans. The draft policy statement reinforces the regional roles of Derry and Belfast. The regional significance of the Sprucefield Shopping Centre is recognised. Generally regional comparison shopping is directed to Belfast and Derry primary retail cores, although other regional retail development may be considered within the designated city centres. There is a restriction on regional out-of-town centres.

Town centres will be the first choice for convenience shopping in excess of 1,000 sqm of gross floor area and the sequential approach is adopted to site selection outside of these centres. There are other supporting policies in relation to accessibility, urban design, mixed use development, retailing frontage and district shopping. Retail outlets at petrol filling stations with over 200 sqm of gross floor area will need to demonstrate a need.

In response to the concerns regarding the dominance of certain supermarket chains in the convenience sector, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) requested that the Competition Commission undertake a public enquiry in the UK into the issue. The matters to be covered include:

§         Buyer power

§         Below cost selling

§         The existing planning regime

§         Land banking by chains

§         Use of restrictive covenants

The Commission published its provisional findings on the 31^st October 2007 and concluded inter alia that:

"47. We provisionally find that a combination of one or more of the following features prevent, restrict or distort competition in certain local markets for the supply of groceries by large grocery stores:-

(a)     A significant number of local markets have high levels of concentration and these levels of concentration have persisted over a number of years.

(b)     The planning regime (in particular PPS6 in England, SPP8 in Scotland, PPS5 in Northern Ireland and MIPPS 02/2005 in Wales) and the manner in which the planning regime is applied by Local Planning Authorities, acts as a barrier to entry or expansion in a significant number of local markets by:-

o        limiting construction of new larger grocery stores and out-of-centre or edge-of-centre sites and;

o        imposing costs and risk on smaller retailers and entrants without pre-existing grocery retail operations in the UK that are not borne to the same extent by existing national level grocery retailers.

(c) The control of land in highly concentrated local markets by incumbent retailers acts as a barrier to entry, by limiting entrants' access to potential sites for new larger grocery stores.

48. We provisionally find that a combination of one or more of the following features prevent, restrict or distort competition in certain local markets for the supply of groceries by mid- sized and larger grocery stores:-

(a)      A significant number of local markets have high levels of concentration and these high levels of concentration have persisted over a number of years; and

(b)      The control of land in highly concentrated local markets by incumbent retailers acts as a barrier to entry by limiting entrants'' access to potential sites for new mid sized and larger grocery stores.

49. We provisionally find that the following features prevent, restrict or distort competition in certain local markets for the supply of groceries by all grocery stores:-

(a)     The control of land in highly concentrated local markets by incumbent retailers acts as a barrier to entry, by limiting entrants' access to potential sites for new mid-sized and larger grocery stores.

50. We provisionally find that the exercise of buyer power by certain grocery retailers and symbol groups with respect to their supplies or groceries, through the adoption of supply chain practices that transfer excessive risks and unexpected costs to those suppliers, is a feature of the markets for the supply of groceries by all grocery stores, which prevents, restricts or distorts competition in connection with the acquisition of groceries by those grocery retailers and symbol groups."

2.4                   France

Trends

France was one of the first European countries to experience the phenomenon of large hypermarkets or supermarkets on the periphery of towns and to also experience the closure of small retail outlets within the town centres with the consequent risk of urban decay.   Rural villages were also seriously affected. [16]"The rapid development of hypermarkets in the late 1960's was accompanied by the closure of numerous small retail units with the risk of devitalisation of town centres and the depopulation of rural zones".

The French Government responded with the introduction of the Le Loi Royer in 1973.  The law required special authorisation for any retail outlet over 1,000 sq m.  This figure was subsequently reduced in 1996 to 300 sq m of retail sales area for new retail outlets and extensions to existing outlets.  Projects larger than 6,000 sq m are subject to public enquiry.  This authorisation is separate and additional to the requirement for what is the equivalent to planning permission. 

Authorisation is granted by State Bodies called the CDEC's (Commission Departmentale d'Equipment Commerciale).  Each Body is made up of the Prefect of the relevant Department, the Mayor of the relevant commune, the Mayor of the nearest largest commune, the President of the Co-operative Council between Local Authorities, the President of the Local Chamber of Commerce, the President of the Local Trades Council and a representative of the Consumers Association.

Appeals against decisions by the CDEC can be made to a National Body, the CNEC (Commission Nationale d'Equipment Commerciale) which is located in Paris.

Issues that will be considered by the two Bodies relate to the definition of the catchment area, sequential testing and projected growth in the retail economy. 

Issues

The Senate in Paris recently re-evaluated the operation of the legislation in 2005 and proposed a number of reforms.  Their proposals include:-

o        Employment

An overall assessment of the effect on employment should form part of the evaluation criteria, submissions in the past concentrated on the creation of employment opportunities in large new retail centres without consideration of loss of employment in other outlets.

o        Interaction with the Planning Process

Co-ordination between the two codes requires strengthening.

o        Aesthetic Considerations

There is concern about the quality of the built environment associated with large hypermarkets or out-of-town centres and although it is largely dealt with under the planning regime, it was also considered it was a legitimate concern for the CDEC's.  Aesthetic consideration should therefore form part of the authorisation process.

o        Inter-Departmental Commission

There is concern that the effect of large-scale projects goes beyond the Departmental level in France and that there should be an Interdepartmental Commission at a regional level designed to evaluate the larger projects.

Other proposed reforms refer to the composition of the authorisation bodies.  Additional concerns relate to the existing exclusion of retail developments at railway stations from the regulating code and the development of Factory Outlet Centres that are not genuine.   To date, no legislation has been introduced or existing legislation amended.

2.5                   Denmark

Trends

Denmark experienced a retail boom between 1987 and 1995. It was a period characterised by large-scale out-of-town development of superstores and shopping centres that radically transformed the retail geography. At the same time countryside and town centre stagnation became serious problems. During this period additional floorspace adequate to cater for 1.2m consumers was developed in a country with a population of only 5.5 m[17]. Half of the new store space was located outside town or city centres with a high car dependency.

These trends were also reinforced by tendencies towards larger and fewer stores and within three decades the number of convenience stores has more than halved from 12,400 stores in 1970 to 5,000 in 1995[18]. Comparison shopping hasn't changed to the same extent, but the tendency is the same. The period has also been characterised by a series of significant mergers, the purchasing of smaller retailers and one-stop superstore developments.

Issues

The rapid change in retailing during the 1980s and 1990s has given rise to a number of concerns about the adverse impacts upon town and countryside alike. Reflecting the debate elsewhere in Western Europe, the principal issues have been:

§         The implications of these trends upon weak consumers (e.g. elderly, disabled, non-car owners);

§         Adverse impacts upon existing town centres;

§         Loss of employment from existing retailers and smaller towns and villages;

§         Competition between local authorities had resulted in pressure to grant permission for out-of-town developments;

§         Environmental concerns regarding the visual impact of ‘big boxes';

§         Resulting traffic congestion.

Regulatory Framework and Policy Response

Planning is carried out at all three levels in Denmark, nationally, regionally for each of the counties and for 275 municipalities. The Planning Acts are the principal means by which development is regulated. However, the Shops Act does have a role in regulating opening hours.

The retailing boom came to an end in 1995 and there was a moratorium for a period, while a new approach was formulated. The result was the 1997 Planning Act[19]. The Act contains legal provision which prohibit out-of-town stores, in addition to convenience stores of over 3,000 sqm of gross floor areas and comparison outlets of over 1,000 sqm. The retail objectives of the Act are outlined in s.5(c) where it stipulates that planning will:

a)      promote a diverse supply of retail shops in small and medium-sized towns and individual districts of large cities;

b)      ensure that areas are designated for retail trade purposes in locations to which people have good access via different modes of transport, including cycling and walking;

c)       promote a sustainable structure of retail trade that limits the distance people need to transport themselves to shops.

Regional guidelines or municipal plans must state special reasons why the retail caps can be exceeded.  Municipal plans, in particular, are required to assess existing floorspace areas and future demands. Policies are also developed outlining the means by which diversity of supply in small and medium sized towns can be achieved.

The 1997 Act has succeeded in stopping out-of-town retail development. However, acquisitions of well-established shops have become more frequent with a resultant uniformity prevailing in Danish high streets. There are also persistent problems with the definition of ‘convenience goods'/'general goods' and ‘shopping goods'/'speciality goods' as large retailers adapt formats to fit the categories.

In 2002 the Planning Act was consolidated[20].  The regulations in relation to retail development were simplified and the cap for specialist retailing was raised from 1,000 sqm to 1,500 sqm of gross floor area.

2.6                   Hungary

Trends

In the 1980s hypermarkets were generally constructed in city centre locations, particularly in Budapest. However, since the transition from the communist era much larger hypermarkets have been constructed outside the city centre areas by foreign retail chains using standard store formats.   There was significant growth in the retail sector between 1990 and 1997, when there was widespread pressure on local authorities to amend local Development Plans and permit out-of-town retail development. There was little or no Central Government policy resulting from the decentralisation of Government functions in the transition period. The majority of completed shopping centres and those under construction obtained their permits before 1997. Planning permissions, reflected in official Development Plans, in most cases have been the outcome of bargaining with developers to secure different forms of planning gain[21].

This development phase was driven principally by hypermarket operators such as Tesco who now dominate parts of the market.  Discount Stores are also being extensively developed and Lidl rolled out 30 new Stores between 2004 and 2006.  Western European developers have pushed forward the development process, usually accompanied by Hungarian companies. Currently, retail development market is almost saturated in Budapest[22], particularly with the opening in 2006 of the 66,000 sqm Kerepsi Park Centre.

Issues

In Hungary there was no significant apparent pressure in the 1990s to develop national policies to address any adverse impacts of new retail centres. This can in part be explained by the emerging nature of the economy and the emphasis placed upon increased productivity and reduction of unemployment. However, recently concerns have emerged about the impact upon:

§         Existing businesses

§         Traffic impacts resulting from increased car ownership

§         Visual impact of ‘big box' development

Regulatory Framework and Planning Policy Response

The Hungarian planning system is based upon the German model of the structure plan, the regulatory plan and the local planning ordinance. The 1997 Built Environment Act[23] has affected the process in two ways:

a)                  It has introduced a complex checking procedure before the adoption of any local urban plan or regulation. This makes it much more difficult to vary plans to accommodate certain forms of retail development;

b)                  The new national planning code introduced a special zoning category for large shopping centres, which allows local authorities to apply a more supply orientated behaviour concerning the location, size and environmental impacts of shopping centres.

Furthermore, there is also a redemption fee for taking a piece of land out of agricultural use. However, apart from these procedural and technical costs elements, there are no national planning policies concerning large shopping centres.

Budapest has adopted additional regulations concerning large shopping centres. Commercial developments of more than 6,000 sqm of gross floor area must be accompanied by:

§         an urban planning impact report;

§         a business impact report;

§         an environmental impact assessment;

§         a traffic impact report; and

§         a scenery and silhouette analysis.

Accession to the EU has not fundamentally altered the regulatory framework, although Hungary is now subjected to EC Environmental Impact Assessment Directives.

2.7                   Summary

§                All western countries have gone through significant suburbanisation since the 1950s with associated development of out-of-town retailing and large store formats. In Eastern Europe, the development of out-of-town retailing is only gathering pace.

§                There has been a loss of retailing variety and diversity in Western Europe and the US with larger and fewer stores predominating. Recently, there has been a significant expansion of discount retailing. Convenience retailers (e.g Tesco, Wal Mart) have moved into comparison retailing.

§                In the US, UK and France there has been significant adverse impacts upon existing centres. Other concerns relate to the impact on competition.

§                There has been a variety of policy responses, with economic and employment impact assessments required in the US, strict regulation in France, Central Government policy guidance issued in the UK and a cap on Store size in Denmark.

§                Policy initiatives recognise the need to reinforce the role of existing centres and there is a strong move towards town centre management, promoting a proactive role for local authorities (e.g. site assembly and environmental improvements) and ensuring an appropriate mix of retail, leisure and commercial uses in town and city centres.

3                      Development Trends and Economic Issues

3.1                   Development Trends

There has been a rapid expansion in the quantum of retail development in the period since the Retail Planning Guidelines were published.  Shopping Centre accommodation has more than trebled in the last five years from 400,000 sq m to 1,500,000 sq m but the spectacular growth has been in the retail warehouse/park sector, which grew from 185,000 sq m in 2001 to 800,000 sq m at the end of 2006.  Growth was particularly strong in 2006.  The figures do not include extensions or closures within existing retail areas. [24]

Theses figures have the potential to increase significantly as there are a number of Centres currently under construction or that have planning permission. The shopping centre and retail warehouse sector combined could grow by a further 40% in the medium to long term depending on local economic conditions.

Ireland currently has the third highest shopping centre space per capita in Europe of almost 306 sq m gross letting space per 1000 inhabitants according to Jones Lang Lasalle in their Report Ireland Retail Report 2006.

3.2       Locational Trends

There is evidence of pressure over the last five years for all forms of retail to locate at junctions between access roads and new Town Bypasses.  This is evidenced from a review of planning applications dealt with on appeal by An Bord Pleanala and this is dealt with more extensively at Appendix A.   

3.3       Future Population Growth

The Central Statistics Office has produced forecasts for future population growth under different scenarios.  All scenarios envisage growth rather than decline and taking a medium scenario that assumes a continuation of recent demographic trends; they project a population [in the Republic of Ireland] of slightly in excess of 5 million by 2021 based on an average increase of 1.4% per annum.  This implies the likelihood of continued economic growth with consequent growth in the retail sector. 

3.4       Retail Sales

The retail sales have increased in terms of the value and volume over the intercensal period of 2002-2006.

In value terms, the Retail Sales Index stood at 103.7 in 2002 at the end of the first quarter co-terminus with the date of the Census of that year.  In 2006, it had increased to 130.7.  In terms of volume, the Index stood at 99.6 in 2002 and had increased to 117.6 in 2006. [25]

Strong growth was experienced in the year from July 2005 to July 2006 when the volume of retail sales grew by 5.5%, while the value grew by 7.4%. 

3.5       Employment

Employment in the retail/wholesale sector of the economy has continued to grow in absolute terms.  Over the intercensal period, between 2002 and 2006, the numbers employed increased from 248,900 to 286,100, a growth of 14.9% [26]

However the proportion of those employed in the sector as a percentage of the overall number employed in all sectors has not changed significantly.  In 2002, 14.2% of the total workforce was employed in retail/warehousing activities compared to 14.3% in 2006.   Whereas there has been a significant shift towards service employment away from traditional industrial and agricultural employment, this was not reflected in the retail sector.[27]

The average weekly earnings in the retail sector increased from €571.19 to € 683.03 in the period of the end of the first quarter 2002 to that of 2006.  This compares to an average earnings for all industries of €571.83 per week in 2002 to €690.75 in 2006.[28]

This would indicate that earnings in the retail sector are in line with average earnings in industry overall.   However, it can be noted that the average earnings for industry deals only with companies with ten or more employees, whereas many retail businesses are small family owned businesses so that it cannot be stated conclusively that earnings in the retail sector are maintaining parity with industry overall.

3.6       Correlation between Growth in floorspace and Retail Sales

Although no published research or documentation has issued studying the correlation between growth in floorspace and retail sales growth in Ireland covering this period, it is apparent that the growth in the quantum of floorspace being provided is significantly disproportionate to the growth in the retail sales and indeed employment growth.

The Table below based on the CBRE Report and the CSO Statistics sets out in index form the levels of growth between increase in floor area, retail sales and employment.

Table 1

It is apparent that there is no correlation between growth in floor space and increase in sales and in employment.  This disparity could be attributed to a number of factors including the following:-

o        Catch-Up Provision of Pent-up Demand

o        Overprovision of Space

o        Displacement

o        More efficient use of floorspace

All four factors may be at play.

Retail warehousing has seen a particular spurt in growth and this is reflective of changing economic and lifestyle choices.  It is considered to be the sector that has caused most displacement of traditional furniture, toys, hardware, gardening and other shops.  Commentators have expressed concern about the sustainability of the new and proposed retail warehouse/park accommodation, particularly in provincial locations where overprovision may now be a factor (CBRE Report).   The same comment has not been made of traditional shopping centres, particularly those in Town Centres.  There is evidence that in-town shopping centres are in demand in a number of critical locations including Tullamore and Carlow by reason of recent land sales and planning applications.  Whether this is a reflection of the impact of the Retail Planning Guidelines or not is not clear at this stage. It can be noted that the growth in retail warehouse outlets and shopping centres has been achieved in the context of a planning regime that retains a limitation on the size of convenience goods outlets.  There is therefore no evidence that the Guidelines have restricted the provision of floorspace.  

3.7       Competition Issues

There is a perception and evidence that product prices in Ireland are higher than in many other European countries, particularly for branded goods and the Report on "Consumers and Consumption" published by the Consumer Strategy Group in 2005 in Ireland sets out consumers' views of the issue.

In terms of the Retail Planning Guidelines, it is difficult to see how they could be seen as affecting the issue of consumer prices in the light of the significant growth in the provision of retail floorspace in the last 4-5 years.  The Guidelines have not inhibited the provision of overall space but have guided that space to more sustainable locations.

The period since the introduction of the Retail Planning Guidelines has seen two major new entrants into the market in the form of the two German Discount Stores - Lidl and Aldi.  Aldi have opened 49 stores throughout the country.  The Stores average 1,300 sq m in area, so that a presumption could be made that there has been a total provision of 57,200 sq m of retail space.   Lidl have opened 86 Stores - a typical Lidl Store would be circa 1,600 sq m, so that approximately 136,000 sq m of retail space has been provided by this Company.

Tesco entered the Irish market in 1997 with the purchase of Associated British Foods Quinnsworth, Crazy Prices and Bloomfield Supermarkets and had 75 Stores in operation in 2001.   Since then, the number of Stores has increased to 97.  These Stores vary in size from the metro style operation in Excise Walk in Dublin Docklands to the large Clare Hall Store.  The total sales area acquired in 1997 was 147,250 sq m (International Expansion and Buyer Driver Commodity Chain - "The Case of Tesco" by Deniz Eylem Yoruk and Slavo Radosevic, University College London).  The sales area in 2007 stood at 211,600 sq m, so that Tesco has expanded by 64,400 sq m since its start of trading in 1997.

The impact of retail caps contained in the Guidelines had on competition was considered in full by a study prepared by Goodbody Economic Consultants[29]. The study concludes that the size caps of 3,000 and 3,500 sqm on Foodstores would have no direct effect on retailing costs. This is because the economies of scale are exhausted at a store size of approximately 2,000 sqm. Indeed the study recognises the "...role that restrictions on store size could play in preventing local monopolies". (P5). Similarly, the study considered that the cap of 6,000 sqm on individual retail warehouse units would not give rise to increased costs and consumer prices. However, the report did raise concerns regarding the possible monopolising effects of retail warehouses of up to 14,000 sqm. Notwithstanding this, the Guidelines were varied in January 2005 to allow for certain warehouse retail development in urban renewal areas of the NSS Gateways to exceed the cap. This was done to:

1.              allow new operators to enter the Irish market; and

2.              to contribute to urban renewal

3.8       Summary

• The provision of retail floorspace over the Intercensal period since the Retail Planning Guidelines were introduced has been very substantial. The Guidelines have not inhibited such growth.

• The growth in floor space would seem disproportionate to the growth in retail sales and employment.

• There would appear to be no significant employment expansion in the sector directly related to the extensive increase in floorspace.

• Earnings in the sector would appear to have grown at a similar rate to those in all sectors of employment.

• The level of growth, particularly in the retail park/warehouse sector, is unlikely to be maintained into the future.

• The floorspace caps in the guidelines do not adversely affect competition in the sense of restricting new entrants or the quantum of space available and so it is difficult to see how the Guidelines have any relationship to consumer prices. 

4      Case Studies

4.1       Sligo - A Gateway City

Despite its burgeoning population and Gateway status, Sligo has succeeded in curtailing major ‘Out of Centre' Supermarkets and instead has concentrated on the revitalisation of its Town Centre.  A policy of directing traffic away from the Retail Core and creating a more attractive public realm and pedestrian accessibility, together with intensive development based on dramatic architecture significantly enhanced the attractiveness of the Town Centre.   New mixed use development with pedesatriansed routes have proved attractive.  This new urban scale and character is being reinforced by the new Glasshouse Hotel and the Atlantic facing apartment block under construction beside it.

The recent opening of the Inner Bypass has permitted the pedestrianisation of the main shopping street - O' Connell Street, and the comprehensive re-development of the backlands.  This has encouraged the opening of major new shopping outlets such as Johnson's Court, focussing on the improved pedestrian street.  Riverside walkways have increased pedestrian access and permeability.   The expansion of the Model School into the Neiland Gallery has brought a new cultural dimension.  Extensive edge of centre parking is available and presumably part of this can convert to multi-storey at a later date, thereby permitting further retail core expansion.

Sligo - Town Centre Renewal                             New Urban Scale

      Sligo -  New Shopping Street                      Pedestrianised O' Connell Street

4.2       Athlone - A Linked Gateway

The traditional core shopping streets in the Town Centre are concentrated to the east of the River Shannon and whilst there are a number of key anchor outlets within the Town Centre, the traditional streetscape and narrow building plots are an inhibition to large scale re-development.

Up to this year, the Golden Island Shopping Centre (which opened in 1997) and the Irishtown and Inisheir Retail Centres (located opposite Golden Island) were Athlone's primary retail areas.  These were on the Edge of the historic core and they provided extensive (1300) off-street car parking spaces and assumed a separate identity.

The relative weakness of the traditional Town Centre was evident from the relatively high vacancy rates and the poor visual appearance of many properties.  There was little multiple retail representation within the Town Centre.  The Golden Island, Irishtown and Inisheir Centres whilst not well integrated with the Town Centre in terms of safe pedestrian routes etc, nevertheless were Edge of Centre and not Out of Centre and therefore retained the dominance of the Town Centre as a whole.  However, nowhere within the Town was there an attractive public realm or pedestrian free-environment. 

This is now been changed by the opening in late 2007 of the Athone Town Centre by Gallico Developments which comprises substantial additional retail floorspace - non-food Tesco extension, retail warehousing and additional units, residential use, Hotel and car parking.  It is located on a key site linking Golden Island to the Town Centre.  Its key location in the historic core links with the impressive new Civic Centre to create a dramatic public area.   An earlier scheme for the development of the site was rejected by An Bord Pleanala for a variety of reasons including a concern for the standard of architecture proposed.  The resubmitted and completed scheme is of the highest architectural quality and is a testament to the efforts of the Council in resisting Out of Centre shopping, whilst patiently putting together a high quality development in the heart of the Town.

Athlone - New Town Square                   Shopping and Hotel

4.3       Enniscorthy - An Urban Opportunity

The Town has been successful in encouraging a mixed use development of urban character on an edge of centre site incorporating a Dunnes Stores anchor unit and a multi-storey car park which serves the Central Area generally.

     Enniscorthy - Urban Renewal

4.4       Donegal - A County Town

Over the past five years, several unsuccessful applications for major Shopping Centres have been made in Donegal Town and their treatment by Donegal County Council and An Bord Pleanala offers a useful insight into the working of the Retail Planning Guidelines in practice.

Donegal Town is an attractive and expanding settlement serving the West of the County and there is no doubt that the provision of a supermarket and additional comparison shopping is necessary, in order to recapture trade being lost to other Centres, particularly Sligo.

However, the Town has a fairly constricted retail core focussed around ‘The Diamond' and further expansion is limited by the physical constraints of an escarpment to the South, the Sea to the West and the Eske River to the North.  There is one significant potential site directly adjoining the Town Centre to the North East - the Bosco/former Mart site combined with the lands of the former Magee Factory.

Since the 1960's, the Town has spread out along its arterial roads particularly in the Killybegs and Ballybofey direction.  The provision of a National Route Bypass to the North and East of the Town in 2001 created two points of high accessibility to a wider catchment - at Drumlonagher in the East and Revlin in the West - though each of these are quite remote from the Town Centre.

In response to the demand in shopping, a series of applications have been made - all of which were granted by Donegal County Council, but all refused by An Bord Pleanala.  These are:-

Ø       PL 05.125768 - a proposal for factory outlets, convenience store and offices at Drumlonagher.  The Board decided that the proposal was in an ‘Out of Centre' location and contrary to both the County Development Pan and the Retail Planning Guidelines and premature pending the adoption of a Retail Strategy for the County.

Ø       PL 05.130965 - a proposal for a Supermarket at Revlin on the Killybegs Road - refused by the Board in August 2003 on the grounds that it would contravene National Policy, injure traffic safety and its remoteness from the Town Centre which would undermine its vitality and viability and therefore be contrary to the Retail Planning Guidelines.

Ø       PL 05.209560 - a proposal for a retail unit with a floor area of 4704 sq m at Clarcarricknagan, circa 2 km to the East of the Town - refused by the Board in May 2005, as it would contravene the mixed use zoning of the site and threaten the role of the Town Centre and interfere with the safety on the nearby junction.

Ø       PL 05.217133 - proposal for a supermarket and comparison retail floorspace within the Bypass and 300m from the Retail Core.  Refused by the Board in December 2006 on the grounds of:-

o        Not within comfortable walking distance of the Town Centre

o        No adequate assessment of alternative suitable sites

o        Prejudicial to the orderly and sustainable expansion of the existing retail core

o        Poor architectural quality

o        Lack of architectural integration with the existing fabric of the Town

o        Traffic congestion on the N56 secondary road.

In this last case, the Board decided that though the site had been zoned as "core retail" in the Statutory Local Area Plan, it was not in fact part of the Town's Retail Core.

The Inspector also observed that insufficient weight had been given to the development potential of the Bosco/Mart site whose relocation the Board had approved under a previous permission.

However an application for a major retail development on the Magee Factory site adjoining (05/20527) which proposed 2583 sq m of net floorspace for convenience retail and 4503 sq m of comparison space was granted by Donegal County Council on the 15^th December 2006 and no objections had been received and so it matured into a Grant in January 2007.  In the meantime, another proposal for retail development at the rear of The Diamond and within the Town Centre has been granted by An Bord Pleanala but has been brought to An Bord Pleanala for review by a rival Developer.

It is possible to observe that:-

• The definition by the Planning Authority of an ‘Out of Centre' site as being part of the Retail Core was mistaken.
• The Authority disregarded its own Development Plan in granting permissions for ‘Out of Town' Centres contrary to the Guidelines.
• There should have been more clarity and activity on behalf of the Planning Authority in the first instance in promoting the Bosco/Mart or Magee sites as appropriate locations and a discouragement of proposals in less appropriate locations.
• More attention should be given by applicants to the architectural context of proposals and their physical relationship with Town Centres.

There has been a great degree of local concern regarding this succession of planning failures but little analysis of the reasons for the Board's decisions and an apparent unwillingness to act upon them.  The insistence of the Board in adhering to national planning guidelines, interpreting the Planning Authority's own Development Plans correctly and applying National Guidelines should have been recognised and responded to.  

4.5       Youghal - An Historic Town

Youghal is probably the most important example of a walled seaport Town in Ireland.  Its principal activities are located within its historic linear Town Centre which is about one mile away.  Until recently, this central core was a continuous active and vibrant shopping environment.

In the re cent past, two National Multiples - Tesco and Lidl located just beyond the northern end of the Town proximate to the new Bypass and provided a substantial increase in retail floor area.  This was welcomed as upgrading the retail facilities of the Town and resulted in bringing back trade which had been lost to other competing centres such as Cork City or Midleton.  However, since the opening of these outlets, the rate of closure in the historic core accelerated and today almost 30% of Main Street shopfronts are closed. 

The closure of these shops may not be directly attributable to the advent of the National Multiples at the northern end of the Town and may be partly attributable to the decline of family run businesses or other factors.  Nevertheless, these closures combined with the recent losses in other employment outlets in the Town and the lack of significant investment in the historic core have not contributed to retail health.

In October 2007, the Town Council varied its Development Plan to permit the construction of a 10,500 sq m Dunnes Stores beside the Lidl and Tesco developments, thereby doubling the Town's retail space from its 2002 base and creating a shopping node of regional proportions, ten minutes walk from the Town Centre.

The scale of these developments combined exceeds any projections for shopping in the area, thereby leaving little economic impetus for the regeneration of obsolete sites which may become available within the historic core.  It is difficult to see how these initiatives will sustain or promote Town Centre renewal.

Youghal:

Unoccupied Shops on Main Street

Youghal:

Backland Opportunities

5.     Review of Local Authority Decisions and An Bord Pleanala Decisions (See Appendix A)

5.1       Analysis of Local Authority and Bord Pleanala Decisions - Conclusions

90 applications for Supermarkets or Discount Foodstores which were processed by Local Authorities and An Bord Pleanala from January 2002 to December 2007 were examined for the purposes of this report.  59 applications were for supermarkets and 31 were for Discount Foodstores.  During the process of assessment, 14 of the applications were withdrawn in accordance with Section 140 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. 

5.2        22 (24%) of the Local Authority Decisions were reversed by An Bord Pleanala, of which 15 (17%) had been granted in the first instance and 7 (8%) refused in the first instance.  Of all of these 90 cases, the Board reversed the Inspector's recommendation in 11 (12%).  The reversal rate of 24% of overall Decisions is consistent with the national average.

5.3        In the cases where the Bord reversed the Local Authority's decision to refuse permission (Naas, Greystones, Trim, Gorey), the reasons related to considerations such as

• deficiency in retail provision in the area,
• general planning history,
• pattern of development and 
• edge of town centre location. 

5.4        In the cases where Local Authority decisions to Grant were reversed, considerations were advanced. such as;

• inappropriate design,
• traffic hazard,
• distance from Town Centre,
•  proximity to National Monuments,
• inappropriate zoning
• architectural design

5.5       Summary

An examination of the Decisions and the accompanying Inspectors Reports indicates that:-

o        The analysis by An Bord Pleanala of each application is generally more thorough and sophisticated than those of the Planning Authorities and places more emphasis on issues such as conformity with National Planning Policy, the adequacy of the Sequential Test and visual impact.

o        Despite the inclusion of extensive statistical Retail Impact Statements justifying or opposing the economic case for significant proposals, their value seems questionable as no case has been identified in which adverse retail impact was of itself cited as the overriding reason for refusal or grant- the most common reasons for refusal relating to the inappropriate location of proposals which, of themselves, give rise to adverse impact on the Town Centres.

• In Towns in which rapid expansion is occurring or planned (Tullamore, Carrick-on-Shannon) the Board appear prepared to disagree with their Inspector's recommendation and Grant Permission on ‘Out of Centre' sites, presumably on the basis that additional shopping provision is required immediately and that the assemblage of Centre or Edge of Centre sites is not yet sufficiently resolved.

• Other than in Heritage Towns (Cashel, Listowel - see Chapter 8), aesthetic considerations do not appear to be a significant issue in Local Authority or Board Decisions.

• In Towns outside of areas of rapid growth or major urban areas (Donegal, Cashel, Ardee, Loughrea), the Board has upheld Local Development Plan policies of sustaining Town Centre and opposing ‘Out of Centre' sites.

• Where Local Authorities refused permission on ‘Out of Centre' sites (Thurles) citing material contravention of Local Development Plan policies, appeals to An Bord Pleanala have not been pursued, presumably due to the provisions of Section 37 (ii) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 which inhibit the Board from granting permission contrary to Local Development Plan policies except in very limited and restrictive circumstances relating to issues of strategy or national importance, ambiguity in the Local Plan, circumstances on the ground or conformity with National Guidelines. 

6.              Supporting Policies

6.1              Introduction

This Chapter considers complementary policies that support the underlying objectives of the Retail Planning Guidelines. Such complementary policies and strategies relate to the location of development, the provision of mixed use development, higher densities, enhanced accessibility though improved public transport and road access, in addition to policies on town centre enhancement and car parking management. The review addresses policy initiative at the national, regional and local level.

6.2              National Policy

The National Spatial Strategy[30] (NSS) provides a national framework for balanced regional development over a 20-year period. It identifies Dublin, Cork, Galway, Waterford, Limerick/Shannon, Sligo as Gateway Cities, in addition to the linked Gateways of Letterkenny/(Derry) and Athlone/Tullamore/Mullingar. Gateways generally have a catchment in excess of 100,000 persons.

Fig 2 NSS Gateways and Hubs

The Gateways are supported by a network of hubs serving a catchment of 20,000-40,000 population , including Cavan, Ennis, Kilkenny, Mallow, Monaghan, Tuam, Wexford, Ballina, Castlebar, Tralee and Killarney. Both the Gateways and hubs will provide a focus for regional development and the role which thriving city; town and village centres have to play in acting as a focus for development is acknowledged. Retailing provision is considered to be principally a service to the local or regional catchment. Its more fundamental role in anchoring balanced regional development is not, however, fully explored. The NSS emphasises the importance of a hierarchy of local, district and county centres supporting the appropriate level of services to the serve the population.  There is a need to strengthen and consolidate existing areas, prevent urban sprawl and maximise the use of existing public infrastructure, while at the same time ensure the protection of streetscapes, cultural heritage and the identity of local centres. The declining numbers involved in agriculture has affected the viability of many services, particularly weak lagging regions. There is a challenge to find a way of supporting the future establishment of viable networks of rural services, from post-offices, to banks, childcare facilities, shops and rural public transport. Policies designed to consolidate small towns and villages will help to sustain these services.

The National Development Plan 2007-2013 (NDP)[31]  provides investment for the development of strong urban centres to support the regional development strategy outlined in the NSS.

The Residential Density Guidelines[32] were adopted in 1999 with the policy of increasing residential densities in appropriate locations. It was acknowledged that such a general approach would provide better access to existing services and in certain instances support their economic provision by providing an increased resident population which is within easy reach of the shops and services.  It should be noted that higher residential densities also correlates with multi-storey mixed-use development trends in town and city centre locations.

The National Roads Authority's Policy on Access to National Roads[33] seeks to promote good planning strategies and avoid inappropriate development that negatively impacts on the national road network. There is a need to protect investment in the enhanced road network, maintain efficiency/satisfactory level of service, preserve high standards of road safety and avoid premature erosion of these benefits. The policy statement highlights paragraphs 22 to 26 of the revised Retail Planning Guidelines, which promote forms of development easily accessible by public transport, that reinforce and support the role of town and district centres and the presumption against the location of large retail development close to existing or planned national roads/motorways. The exception to these rules, whereby large retail warehousing may be considered close to a national road network in an Integrated Area Plan area, is noted. Planning Permission has now been granted for the IKEA Store in Ballymun, adjacent to the M50.  Conditions attached to the permission include a requirement to charge for parking and restricting opening hours.

6.3              Regional Policy

Regional Planning Guidelines

Regional Planning Guidelines (RPGs) have now been prepared under s.21 of the Planning Act,  to cover all eight regions in the State[34], with joint Guidelines prepared for Dublin and the Mid-East Regions. Most of the RPGs were prepared and adopted in 2004 and 2005, post-dating the Retail Strategies and the broad assumptions in relation to retail hierarchy are reflected in the RPGs.  In general, the Guidelines translate the provisions of the NSS to the regional level, particularly in terms of identifying critical mass for the hierarchy of services that are to be provided throughout the regions.

Ensuring critical mass to sustain services and employment is central to the RPGs strategy of developing hubs to complement the Gateways. In this regard, for example, the first key economic objective of the Midlands guidance[35] is to "Direct business to the principal towns to contribute to and benefit from the economic, social, environmental and operational benefits of strategic location."

Many of the Guidelines recognise that towns need to be developed in collaboration with neighbouring towns as opposed to being in competition with them. For example, the Mid West RPGs[36] state: "Systems will need to be devised to help key towns uncover their strategic potential in a coherent and creative way. This approach should include identifying how key towns can exploit their possibilities for networking within their own hinterland, particularly with neighbouring towns. Key towns must look to their future in collaboration, not competition, with other centres. Positive initiatives need to be used to promote this collaboration. The development of key towns does not, however, imply that other towns will not need to develop or be facilitated in their development." However, in the Midlands Region a retail study has been commissioned by Westmeath County Council for Athlone and Mullingar, but not Tullamore, which form part of the linked Gateway in the applicable RPGs.

Sustaining services for rural populations is a key issue in the RPGs covering those areas outside of the economic influence of Dublin, reflecting the findings of the NSS. The requirement to provide accessibility to shops and services for all in the community informs the establishment of hierarchies in the respective Guidelines.

In relation to transportation, there is a recognised need to support more sustainable patterns of settlement to increase the ability to meet normal travel needs through safe walking, cycling and public transport with reduced reliance on the car through integrated transport and land-use planning.

Regional Transportation Strategies

Regional transportation strategies also have an important role to play in sustaining the vitality and viability of city and town centres. The Dublin Transportation Office's Platform for Change Strategy[37] outlines an integrated strategy for the development of an integrated transportation network for the Dublin region up to 2016. The strategy involves the completion of the motorway network around the city, the extension of the LUAS system, provision of Metro and the enhancement of bus, DART and suburban rail services. Ensuring a shift from the private car to public transport, cycling and walking is central to the success of the initiative. An underlying objective is to reduce the demand for travel, minimise journey lengths, improve accessibility and reduce congestion. The strategy is supportive of the regional guidelines' objective of consolidating the Metropolitan Area and it advocates certain complementary land use policies. Development in the hinterland should be concentrated at the local level, with neighbourhood centres easily accessible to public transport and higher densities in mixed use schemes are encouraged. New developments should be concentrated in discrete settlements within defined public transport corridors. However, the approach differs in designated centres in the hinterland and the existing Metropolitan Area, where there should be an emphasis on concentrating development around existing and proposed public transport. Of particular relevance to retail development is the issue of parking standards, and the DTO advocates that a consistent approach should be used in relation to parking standards within the region.

The DTO has also prepared a Guidance Note on Retail and Leisure Development[38]. Accessibility of retail or leisure development should not be based solely on car accessibility, but public transport and walk and cycle times within a catchment should also be considered. Retail and leisure development should be mixed with other uses, such as residential, employment or educational to facilitate multi-purpose journeys. The guidance note recognises the need for a large percentage of the population to bulk purchase their weekly convenience goods. However, the following should apply to new retail:

§         Retailing should not be located at motorway/national road junctions.

§           Public transport, including taxis, must be an option for access.

§           Pedestrian and cycle access to local shops must be facilitated.

§           Parking charges should be used to achieve these objectives.

§           Parking charges should be used as a tool in the management of demand for car use.

§           Income generated from car parking should endeavour to be used to fund the provision of sustainable modes.

§           The requirements of the mobility impaired and disabled need to be considered.

Similar to the DTO strategy, the CASP[39] initiative in Cork seeks to integrate land use and transportation planning. It seeks to revitalise the city centre through improved public transport. Projections for various categories of retailing were undertaken, but the strategy predated the preparation of the Retail Guidelines for the area.

6.4              Development Plans

Land Use Zoning Objectives

County and City Development Plans (CDPs) now generally include the provisions of the retail strategies for the counties and regions.  They also contain an array of policies and standards that can both be supportive of, and detrimental to, town centres. The principal means by which the location of development types in urban areas, particularly with city development plans, is determined is through land use zoning provisions. There are usually zonings, which cater for town, district or neighbourhood centres reflecting the hierarchy of the relevant centre. Usually, significant commercial and retail development is not permissible under residential zonings. Retail parks are often permitted on lands that are zoned for light industry or mixed-use development[40]. This has given rise to a high degree of discretion on the part of the planning authority and has the potential to result in an inappropriate location of retail warehousing and discount food stores. Some Development Plans are, however, more specific in their identification of appropriate sites for retail warehousing. In more rural counties, white zonings, or an absence of specific zoning provisions, apply to most of the statutory area of the local authority. General locational policies and the provisions of the respective retail strategies therefore apply[41], or alternatively are left to be covered by separate Development Plans for the towns.

While often a mixture of uses is encouraged on areas covered by a town centre or mixed zoning objective, such a mixture of uses is not mandatory. An exception is the Dublin Docklands where it is a requirement to provide a mixture of residential and commercial development on sites over 0.2 ha[42]. Multi-storey town centre development has often included retailing and office development, but rarely incorporated a residential component. This is due in part to the difficulty of including a residential element within the design of a modern town centre shopping centre, but also because during periods of development buoyancy, rental values will dictate that office and retail will displace residential development in prime locations.

Town Centre and Supplementary Retail Policies

In addition to the retail strategies, Development Plans also contain other complementary policies on retailing and town centre management. A number of the City Development Plans identify a hierarchy of primary and secondary streets. The Dublin City Development Plan 2005-2011, for example, has two categories of shops. Category 1 restricts the introduction of non-retail frontages and limits bookmakers, cafes and takeaway restaurants. Category 2 allows for non-retail, but seeks to ensure that they do not predominate so as to erode the retail function of a street.

Development Plans also usually include policies on signage, the provision of neighbourhood shops and restrictions on fast food restaurants close to residential properties. Occasionally 24 hour shopping is restricted[43], but usually on the grounds that it would interfere with residential amenity rather than adversely affecting the vitality and viability of existing centres.

Policy in relation to petrol stations, and in particular the retail element of such stations, is relatively light in most Development Plans. Any provisions usually relate to the layout requirements of forecourts.

Development Control Standards

Most Development Plans relating to urban areas contain development control standards such as plot ratio[44], site coverage[45], building lines and building heights. Higher development volumes are usually permitted in town centre locations at up to 3:1 plot ratio and 80% site coverage. This invariably results in multi-storey development often including car parking and sometimes offices, which contributes to the appropriate urban scale and mix of uses required in town centres. Volumetric development standards in out-of-town locations are generally lower resulting in a different form of development with industrial or ‘big box' style of retail and leisure buildings that are usually on a single level surrounded by parking. These developments are usually mono-use reflecting the zoning provisions for the sites, particularly in the case of light or general industrial zoning, where residential uses are not permitted. It is usually the case that higher densities on these sites would not be appropriate given that they are less accessible by non-car modes and the suburban surroundings within which they are set. While multi-storey development in town centres often contributes to the value of town centre developments, it also contributes to the cost of their provision. In large urban areas the higher rental values associated with prime town or city centre locations relative to out of town centres ensures that such large multi-storey developments are economically viable. This is not necessarily the case in smaller county towns, where costs of site assembly and construction of town centre multi-storey mixed use developments are not necessarily matched by the required higher rental values when compared to out-of-town greenfield development sites.

Car Parking

Car parking policies in development plans have also played a critical role in stimulating competition between adjoining local authorities who are seeking to attract inward investment from large retail developments. This is particularly the case where there are county councils competing with a city council for retail development. For example, the parking standards for retail development for Fingal County Council are 1 space per 20 sqm for shopping centres and retail warehouses[46], while for Dublin City Council they vary from 1 space per 400 sqm in the city centre to 1 space per 30 sqm on the edge of the City area[47].  Indeed, Dublin City Council has relaxed its standards for retailing on the edge of its area, down from 1 space per 75 sqm in the preceding Development Plan. The current Dublin City CDP states (pp 146): "Notwithstanding the car parking standards specified in Table 15.1, in view of the potential conflict between the parking standards set for the Dublin City Council area and those outside the Dublin Council area, some variation of the standards set out in Table 15.1 may be permitted adjoining the Dublin City Council boundary. Specifically, permission for additional parking as part of large scale developments in such locations may be granted on a temporary basis.........until such a time as a similar accessibility based parking policy and parking standards as applicable to the Dublin City Council area are adopted by the adjoining Planning Authorities in the Dublin Metropolitan Area." It is evident that issues of competition between adjoining local authorities has significant implications in terms of sustainable development patterns and protecting the vitality and viability of town centres.

Most Development Plans do not provide different standards for town centre and edge-of-centre locations, possibly reflecting a concern that a tighter standard would put town centres at a competitive disadvantage.

The issue of competition between Town and County Councils does not appear to be an issue, as there is generally a more coherent policy on parking than that which exists in the Metropolitan Areas.

6.5              Local Area Plans and Planning Schemes

Local Area Plans

The 2000 Planning and Development Act allows for the preparation of statutory local area plans (LAPs). The statutory requirements for the preparation of such LAPs is more streamlined than for statutory Development Plans and they can be prepared for any particular area within the functional area of a planning authority. An LAP shall, however, be prepared for a designated town in the census and which has a population in excess of 2,000 persons. They provide a very useful framework for town centre development and management and can be supported by supplementary contribution schemes, or new BIDs Schemes under the new Business Improvement District Act, 2006.

Planning Schemes

Planning Schemes provide a more detailed planning framework. They can be prepared for the Dublin Docklands[48] and can also be more broadly applied under the Strategic Development Zones provisions of the 2000 Planning Act[49].  The SDZ for Adamstown[50], South Dublin County Council, is an excellent example of how new suburban development can be phased with the provision of shops and services on a neighbourhood basis. The scheme is structured into eight phases, each of which has to provide its own retail facilities and there is a single town centre to accommodate the higher order retail requirements. It seeks to ensure that there is a critical mass of services to serve resident community and which is well served by public transport.

Similarly, the planning scheme for the North Wall area in Dublin Docklands[51] requires the provision of retailing distributed throughout the area, in addition to a retail district centre at the Point Village with the full range of shops, services, cinemas etc to be provided in a mixed use multi-storey development.

6.6              Summary

§                The NSS, underpinned by the investment programmes of the NDP, promotes regional development with a focus on Gateways and Hubs to provide the required services for the regional catchments.

§                The RPGs have, in general, been prepared after the retail strategies and adopt the retail hierarchies detailed in those strategies. However, retail development does form an integral part of the regional guidelines. 

§                Regional transportation strategies are generally supportive of the role of town centres and there is presumption in favour of protecting the capacity of the motorway network from traffic impacts associated with inappropriate retail development.

§                Development Plans regulate retail development through zoning provisions, volumetric and design constraints and parking standards, in addition to other supplementary retail policies.

§                Local Area Plans and Planning Schemes provide a good framework within which to facilitate development and town centre management.

7.              Financial Instruments

7.1              Introduction

There are a range of financial instruments that can act as incentives or disincentives in the promotion of town centre retailing. Such instruments include:

§         development contributions required by planning permissions;

§         local authority charges in the form of commercial rates, waste charges and water rates;

§         business improvement district schemes; and

§         car parking charges.

This Chapter examines how each of these operates in the context of town centre versus out of centre retail development.

7.2              Development Contributions

Section 48 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 allows planning authorities to collect development levies which are specified as conditions in planning permissions. The planning authority has to prepare a Contribution Scheme for adoption by the Council. The types of public infrastructure and facilities that can be funded by this mechanism are: 

(a)           the acquisition of land,

(b)           the provision of open spaces, recreational and community facilities and amenities and landscaping works,

(c)           the provision of roads, car parks, sewers, waste water and water treatment facilities, drains and watermains,

(d)           the provision of bus corridors and lanes, bus interchanges facilities and infrastructure to facilitate public transport, cycle and pedestrian facilities, and

(f)      any matters ancillary to paragraphs (a) to (e).

A development Contribution Scheme must state clearly the level of contributions to be payable under the Scheme, including any different levels of contributions in respect of different classes or descriptions of developments. The Ministerial Guidance on the contribution schemes states: "...a local authority may decide to provide that a lower (or no) contribution will be payable on permissions for particular types of community infrastructure, shops, etc" [52].  In general the levy rate is expressed as an amount per residential unit, or per square metre of commercial floor area. For larger recreational developments it is sometimes expressed as € Per hectare[53].  The rates for urban residential development vary with levies up to €20,000 per unit and €100+ per sqm of commercial floor space. In County Kildare, for example, the commercial levy rate is €75 per sqm[54], while in Offaly it is €30 per sqm[55].  A developer can only appeal a general development contribution on the basis that the terms of the scheme were not properly applied.

A special development contribution may be imposed under Section 48 where exceptional costs not covered by the general contribution scheme are incurred by a local authority in the provision of a specific public infrastructure or facility. The particular works should be specified in the condition.  Only developments that will benefit from the public infrastructure or facility in question should be liable to pay the levy.

Section 49 of the Act allows for the drawing up of a Supplementary Development Contribution Scheme in order to facilitate a particular public infrastructure service or project which is provided by a local authority or a private developer on behalf of a local authority (e.g. through Public Private Partnership), and which will directly benefit the development on which the levy is imposed.   Supplementary Development Contribution Sschemes may be used for rail, light rail or other public transport infrastructure and public car parks, particular new roads or particular water or waste water infrastructure.

Development contributions therefore have the potential to financially assist in reinforcing the role of town and city centres. Such contribution schemes can provide the funding for town centre car parks, environmental improvements and enhanced public transport. There is also specific scope for exemptions from these levies for particular types of developments, which are usually charitable or community type developments. Although the Ministerial Circular Letter indicates that ‘shops' can also be exempted, there is no evidence that such exemptions are included in Contribution Schemes adopted to date.

Invariably, the levy rate for retail development within the one planning authority is the same, irrespective of whether it is a town centre or out of town location.  Planning authorities can however also use levy rates to secure a competitive advantage over an adjoining local authority. This is not generally the case where a Town Council is located within a County Council area, as often the same Contribution Scheme applies. There is the potential for this competitive environment to emerge between City and County Councils, or between County Councils, particularly in the Dublin and Mid Eastern Regions.

The principal means by which contribution schemes could be utilised to reinforce the role of town centres are:

a)      An exemption, or part exemption, from a requirement to pay contributions on new retail development in town centre locations, thereby offsetting, in part, the higher development costs in these locations. This would assist levelling the playing pitch when compared with out-of-town centres.

b)      A higher contribution rate for out-of-town retail development, which would discourage such development.

c)       A comprehensive set of measures, which would be included in the contribution scheme, to upgrade and enhance town centres and provide (e.g. car parking, public transport infrastructure, traffic management, environmental improvements).

These provisions would need to be expressly included in the Contribution Schemes themselves. There is scope for interested parties to make observations on draft Schemes and there is an opportunity to influence their format and content before they are formally adopted.

7.3              Other Local Authority Funding

In addition to Development Contributions, there is a range of other funding mechanisms available to local authorities in assisting them in the securing their objectives of reinforcing the role of town and city centres. These funding sources are broadly:

§           Rates - These come from both collection of water rates and commercial rates on commercial property.  Commercial rates account for approximately 25% of local authority funding[56] and represent a significant cost element to retailers.

§           Charges - A variety of charges for waste disposal, motor tax, planning application fees, etc, are an important source of funding for local authorities. Generally, a flat charge is applied to all sectors for certain services and there are limited exemptions. Charges account for 31% of all local authority funding.

§           Direct Government Grants/Subsidies - Funding direct from Central Government sources accounts for 44% of all local authority financing. These grants relate to both capital and current expenditure. Rolling funds can be made available for specific projects.

Retail Ireland made a submission[57] to the Minister during the Review of Local Government Financing which highlighted the fact that local authority charges had increased by 22% in the two-year period 2002-2003, while inflation was only 7%. This submission suggested the appointment of an independent regulator to vet increases in charges and to widen the base to extend rates to residential properties and to state owned property. The recommendations of the DoEHLG's study emphasised the following:

§           Increase in overall funding required.

§           Move towards locally based sources of funding.

§           Increase in local charges and introduction of selected targeted taxation.  Water charges should be extended and metering introduced.

§           Rates should be extended to cover all commercial property.

Rates are based upon a net annual rental value of the property. There can be a significant difference in rateable value between town centre and out of town locations. Often the out of town developments are based on low industrial values, while the town centres retain higher commercial rental values. This acts as an incentive to develop out of town retail locations.

For example, in its last year of occupation at, William Street Tullamore, Tesco paid an annual rate of €41,199.  It then occupied a relatively constricted Town Centre site and shared a public "pay & display" public car park. The following year, on its re-location to Cloncollog (2km from the Town Centre), its rates bill was €49,564, i.e. an increase of €8,370 for which it achieved a larger Store, an extensive free exclusive surface car park and direct access to a National Primary Route and future Bypass route.  At the time of writing, its former premises in the Town Centre remain unoccupied and the required public transport linkage to the Centre would appear not to have been established.

While some commercial development in tax incentive areas in the 1990s was exempted from rates for a period, these exemptions no longer apply. Furthermore, retail use is not one of the exemption categories in the Valuation Act 2001.

A key problem in the upgrading and management of town and city centres is that local authorities have not been actively engaged in promoting their vitality and viability through the assembly and purchase of suitable sites, provision of off-street car parking and the management of the resources available. One reason they have not been as active in this leading role is that funds are not available for land purchase and town centre improvements. If local authorities promote town centres through site assembly initiatives and active development they are more likely to achieve their objectives of reinforcing their vitality and viability.

In particular the opportunities available under the Gateways Innovation Fund should be pursued.  A detailed scheme for the operation of the new Fund is yet to be promulgated,  but illustrative examples of areas likely to qualify would include the following:-

§         Key local economic infrastructure not funded for mainstream Centre or local Capital Programmes.

§         Integrated physical and socio-economic regeneration projects designed to rejuvenate important or significant parts of the Gateway.

§         Transport Initiatives additional to the Transport 21 Programme with an emphasis on encouraging a significant modal shift from the private car towards public transport, cycling and walking.

§         Quality of life investment e.g. major pedestrian schemes, the enhancement of public open space and recreational amenities; and investment in culture or sporting infrastructure.

The Plan observes also that in addition to the network of hubs, there are other strategically positioned County towns and other large towns whose continued development must be facilitated so that they play an important role in ensuring that balanced development takes place within, as well as between, Regions.  The further development of these and other similar locations will be encouraged through effective local planning and leveraging wider public and private investment.

The opportunity exists therefore for the utilisation of the Funds for the release of key central area sites for shopping and other purposes and the enhancement of the civic quality of Town and City Centres.

7.4              Business Improvement Districts Act, 2006

This Act, which was passed at the end of 2006, provides the legislative basis for businesses, on a self-help basis, to support projects, services, and works to be carried out for the betterment of defined districts.  In a Business Improvement District Scheme, a group of businesses are empowered, where a majority of those businesses agree to raise a special contribution from all the businesses in the defined area to pay for the carrying out of complementary local services and improvements, within that defined area.  The boundary of, and the range of local improvements to be carried out in the defined area of, a Business Improvement District Scheme are set out in a detailed business plan which is developed by the business community in association with the local authority. All investment made through BIDS will be both additional and complementary to existing expenditure and will ensure enhanced impacts on the social and economic vitality and viability of our cities and towns. The ethos of BIDS is that it would provide services in an area that would add to, and not substitute for, those services already provided by the local authority.

A company representative of the businesses in the area and the local authority, is established and this company is empowered to carry out, within the defined area, the range of services and improvements set out in the business plan. The local authority, as partner to the Business Improvement District Scheme, using its revenue collection powers, collects the special contribution on behalf of the businesses and provides the funds collected, net of its costs, to the company to pay for the services and improvements to be carried out.

A range of services and improvements can be carried out in a Business Improvement District, ranging from cleansing, hospitality, promotions and special events to physical improvements, street furniture, signage, special lighting, etc. The services customarily provided by a local authority within the defined area would continue and would be complemented by the services and improvements carried out by the company.

The BID contribution levy on businesses in areas where BID schemes are established is to be calculated annually based on the rateable valuation of property and the annual BID multiplier is to be determined by the BID Company concerned. The BID multiplier has regard to the size of the BID and the level of services and improvements to be carried out in the BID, which is at the discretion of the proponents putting the scheme forward for approval.

7.5              Parking Charges

Charges for town centre parking can also act as a disincentive for customers visiting town centre retail outlets when compared to free out-of-town parking for supermarkets and retail warehouses. Charges for off-street private parking can only effectively be controlled through conditions attached to planning permission and cannot be retrospectively controlled. In Metropolitan Areas, the pricing regime for public parking is controlled to ensure that commuters do not use it. Surface parking associate with retail developments is often free, but multi-storey car parking usually incurs a charge owing to the associated development and management costs. There is no known case where a local authority has required out-of-town retail centres to charge for parking so as to be in a comparable position to town centre locations that do charge. In the recent appeal relating to the proposed IKEA Store at Ballymun, An Bord Pleanála attached a condition to the permission requiring that parking charges be applied, but this was for traffic management purposes.  In Tullamore for example, the imposition of a stricter parking regime, coupled with increased charges in the town centre invites comparison with the free availability of extensive free car parking at the out-of-centre site.  It might also be observed that a public transport link between the Out of Centre site and the Town Centre discontinued operation after a short time due to a lack of passenger use.

On-street parking in town centres is controlled by the local authority, which can charge for it as necessary. It is usually used as a means to manage the overall parking stock, although often traders fear that it will deter potential customers. A careful balance has to be struck between paying for the costs of maintaining a certain parking regime and deterring shoppers. Charging for out of town retail car parking and remitting a proportion of the income to Town Centre management is an option that could be examined.

7.6              Summary

§                Development contributions, under the Planning Act, can provide local authorities with funds for investment in town centres. However, their application might equally act as a disincentive for town centre development.

§                Rates, water and waste charges are other financial instruments available to local authorities. Rates can act as an incentive for the creation of out-of-town developments, owing to lower rateable valuations of these locations relative to town centres.

§                Central Government funding is also available and, in particular, there are opportunities available under the Gateway Innovation Fund.

§                The imposition of parking charges in town centres put out-of-town retail centres with ample free parking at a competitive advantage. Mechanisms need to be considered to address this imbalance. 

8.     Urban Design and Architecture

8.1       Introduction

There is limited commentary in the Retail Planning Guidelines in relation to Urban Design and Architectural issues.  Under the heading "Assessing New Developments General Principles - Development Plan Policies -Location of Development", paragraphs 62 and 63, the Guidelines state that contrasting performance in terms of urban design; accessibility and traffic congestion will be an issue in appraising alternative locations.  The successful integration of large-scale retail development into the existing small grain morphology of existing Towns is recognised as a challenge.  The difficulties of the location of service yards, treatment of parking areas and detailing of extensive frontages and flank walls are all mentioned.  The commentary on ‘Out of Centre' locations is limited to an exhortation to Planning Authorities to include criteria on quality of design and layout in Development Plans against which to judge planning applications for development.

The Retail Strategies produced by the Planning Authorities do not address urban design and architecture and reliance is placed on policies in the Development Plans applying to these topics. 

It is however apparent from an examination in particular of planning appeals, that design is playing a significant role as part of the assessment process in the case of both ‘Out of Centre' and centrally located retail proposals.

8.2       Trends in Planning Authority Assessment

Although the complexity of Town Centre development could be seen to act as a locational disadvantage, greater vigilance on the part of Panning Authority's in regard to the aesthetics of ‘Out of Centre' developments can act as a balance.

A number of trends can be seen in Development Plans which can assist in improving design quality in both central and ‘Out of Centre' locations. These include:-

• The inclusion of Urban Design Guidelines or Polices as part of the Development Plan.
• Requirement for an Urban Design or Architectural Design Statement as part of the planning application, which, amongst other things, would address the Urban Design Guidelines.
• A requirement for mixed use for reasons of sustainability.  Urban Design Guidelines set out a series of criteria against which development can be tested.  Foremost amongst these will be Context:- Context will exercise a design constraint that should assist in the integration of new development into its surrounds, whether those surroundings are urban, suburban or rural.

The requirement for Statements both forces and assists Designer to address fundamental design issues, which should guide them to produce a more considered design.

Mixed use is now commonly required in Town Centres and although it experienced some initial resistance from retailers, the strong residential market has assisted in making it more acceptable, especially where a Developer is involved in the delivery of the development.  There are signs now that it is being applied to more peripheral locations in the major Cities and that more integrated developments with retailing forming one of the significant elements are emerging.  This trend is likely to be replicated in the smaller Towns and should assist in achieving a more considered aesthetically acceptable development.

Concerns have been expressed by the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland (RIAI) and others over the skills available to Planning Authorities to allow an appropriate assessment of design issues.  However, inevitably large applications will be the subject of appeals and it is acknowledged that An Bord Pleanala has the necessary skills.  It would however be preferable if design issues could be appraised appropriately at an early stage.

8.3       Corporate Responsibility

Although much reliance is placed on the Planning Authorities to act as a controllers and arbitrors in relation to developments, large Corporations can play a role by abandoning fixed building designs, imagery and signs.  Some major retailers are now starting to put a value in responding to local environment in terms of building design and signage as part of their Environmental Corporate Policy.

8.4       Trends and Architectural Design

A number of trends can be seen in the architectural design of large retail units in the case of the major Multiples.  This is particularly so in the ‘Out of Town' locations.  The structure is now being used as a primary expression of the building.  In some cases, this expression is confined to the front entrance or bay of the building.  There is a greater use of glass across the front façade instead of confining glazed areas to the entrance and maximising the use of wall space for display.  These trends can be viewed as positive in that they are an honest expression of the nature of the building.   They are less hostile in that they have extensive glass areas which offer a more visually attractive appearance in both displaying goods and human activity within the building.

Other trends include the incorporation of non-functional features to the façade or flank walls to break up the scale of the building and give it in some cases a particular presence.  These devices are not always successful.

Many ‘Out of Town' developments are not stand-alone buildings but are a combination of retail offerings, often including retail warehousing.   Many of these outlets follow their own visual expression so that as a composition, they lack cohesion.  The scale of the buildings, together with the large signs, can create a poor visual introduction to a Town and this has caused greater concern in other countries such as France where historic Towns are often characterised by a visual commercial mess on the approach roads.  Some developers have sough to exercise a coherent visual discipline to enhance the prestige and appearance of the project.  However, this is not universal and many examples built in the previous five years are characterised by their visual incoherence.  Town Centre developments have varied with a welcome trend towards integration with the existing urban form in urban design terms.  This works best in deep sites where facades on streetfronts are limited.  Otherwise blank walls will detract from the vitality of the street.  Architecturally the trend appears to have been towards the picturesque which is not always successful.

It is a dismal fact that despite the number of Shopping Centres erected in the retail boom of the past six years and their key role as urban anchors, only one (The Pavilions, Swords) has been acknowledged by the appropriate Institutes as having any outstanding architectural merit. This compares poorly with other use sectors such as office and residential developments many of which have featured in various architectural awards

For example, in respect of a proposed Supermarket at Ballybunion, the Board's Inspector observed that:-

"it is stated that the operators would be Tesco who are one of the most successful Companies in Ireland/England with large resources available for high quality design.  In the past, the leading Institutions of their times such as the Christian Churches and the Banks provided buildings of great distinction throughout the country, often using local materials and craftsmen.  They provided the key architectural buildings which have now led to many Towns such as Listowel being designated a  Heritage Town.  As noted by the applicants, this could easily be termed a ‘Gateway' location as one approaches the Town from Ballybunion.  However this design is disappointing, being very much a standard industrial style Unit, totally utilitarian in every sense.  It is a low profile building set back over 100m from the main road with the intervening area comprising a large flat surface car parking.  The low boundary wall and limited planting do not significantly reduce visual impact.

The Development Plan recognises the importance of the Town's built heritage and the need for high quality landscaping.  However the present proposal does not represent a planning gain in terms of urban design and in my view in such a sensitive location is visually weak and therefore contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area."

In the case last year of a proposed Tesco Store at the entrance to Cashel, the Board's Inspector observed that:

"I do not accept that the public expects this poor quality of design.  Rather I feel that this standardisation is a product of a Company philosophy and brand creation.  I consider that the use of a standardised format, of a quasi-industrial building, while it might be well acceptable in an industrial area of a large City, is entirely inappropriate on two key approach roads into the Heritage Town of Cashel." 

The Inspector noted that despite several attempts by the Planning Authority to modify the design, they met with little response from the applicants..

8.5       Design Preference

As a general comment, designing an ‘Out of Town' Centre will be the preferred choice for the retail designer as it will allow complete freedom to achieve the most economic layout without the constraints that might be involved in a Town Centre location.  The usual three-dimensional expression will be a large rectangular box located behind a significant surface car park.

However as the previous examples show, many Irish Provincial Cities and Towns particularly Sligo, Kilkenny, Athlone, Enniscorthy, Ennis and Dungarvan being good examples, have implemented the Guidelines recommendations favouring Town Centre or Edge of Centre sites with extremely successful architectural results. (See Chapter 4)

A second element of design preference is the frequent insistence by multiples for adherence to their corporate design and advertising format and in sites where there isn't a very established architectural character such as the outer suburbs, little architectural harm results, though no particular architectural benefit occurs either.  On more significant sites, some Planning Authorities have been successful in insisting upon the subservience of the corporate format to the local design context.  A particularly good example is the new Aldi development at Gorey on a prominent site at the entry to the Town which has resulted in a building of some merit. 

The Guidelines at paragraph 61 suggest that retailers should be prepared to make reasonable compromise and if possible adapt a standard development format in order to accommodate retail schemes on sites which are well located in relation to the sequential approach to retail development and this stricture should apply as much to the architecture of the proposal as to its location.

     Gorey - Refined Corporate Design

8.6       Car Parking and Landscaping

Retailers will wish to communicate a message of ease of parking to customers and it will be preferably placed in front or around the retail outlet.  It therefore becomes the dominant visual element and has the capacity to detract from the quality of the architecture, whether in Out of Town' or Town Centre locations.   High quality landscape and public realm finishes can alleviate the impact, however parking within Town Centre will be preferably screened in order to conserve the built morphology of the Town.

Provision for cyclist and pedestrians can often be minimal in both cases and in the case of large ‘Out of Town' Centres with several retail outlets, provision is often not made for people to travel along pedestrian desire lines from one Unit to the other and a muddy path is sometimes encountered. 

Multi-storey car parks are not a feature of most Towns, although they convey great advantages in freeing marginal land for development, but are the subject of customer resistance who generally will prefer an open ground plane location.

8.7       Summary

The design of large retail units remains a challenge in both central and ‘Out of Town' locations.  The Guidelines could not be said to offer assistance to either a Developer or Local Authority and reliance has been primarily based on the existing Development Plan policies.  There is an argument for a revision to the Guidelines that would deal with the issue in greater detail including the use of good Case Studies from Ireland and abroad.  This would be appropriate given the particularity of the design issues involved.

9.       Strategy Preparation, Monitoring and Impact Assessment

9.1              Introduction

A number of key issues arise in relation to the preparation and implementation of the retail strategies prepared under the Retail Planning Guidelines. The issues addressed in this chapter therefore relate to:

§         preparation, monitoring and review of retail strategies;

§         availability of statistical data; and

§         the methodologies used for retail impact assessments.

9.2              Retail Strategies

The Guidelines require that County and City Development Plans include retail policies which should address the following:

i)              Confirmation of retail hierarchy and role of centres.

ii)             Definition of core shopping areas of town centres.

iii)           A broad assessment of the requirement for additional floorspace.

iv)           Strategic guidance on the location and scale of retail development.

v)             Initiatives to improve town centres.

vi)           Identification of criteria for the assessment of retail developments.

Importantly, paragraph 38 of the Guidelines states that the Retail Strategies for more urban areas should be jointly prepared by adjoining Planning Authorities, as the catchment of retail centres is not constrained by administrative boundaries. A number of urban areas, for which joint strategies should be prepared, are identified in the Guidelines.  Table 2 below illustrates that there has been mixed success in the preparation of these joint Strategies, with the larger centres of Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick providing the required joint Strategies, while there has been a failure to provide the required joint policies documents for Greater Waterford, Drogheda/Dundalk and Athlone areas.  In addition, it is noted that the selection of these areas does not appear to have had any regard to the NSS, which has identified Gateways and Hubs for development.

Table 2 - Retail Guidelines Cross Boundary Strategies

Area                            Relevant County or City                     Comments

Greater Dublin Area*      Dublin City                                             Greater Dublin Area Retail

                                    Fingal County                                         Planning Strategy 2001

                                    Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County for Dublin and the Mid East

                                    South Dublin County                               Regions. Review underway

                                    Kildare County                                        in 2007

                                    Meath County

                                    Wicklow County

Greater Cork                  Cork County                                           Joint Cork Strategic Retail

                                    Cork City                                               Study prepared 2004

Greater Waterford          Waterford County                                   No joint strategy

                                    Waterford City                                       Waterford County Retail

                                    Wexford County                                     Strategy prepared in 2003

                                    Kilkenny County                          and revised 2006. No                                                                                                      detailed strategy for                                                                                                       Waterford City.

                                                                                                Wexford County Strategy                                                                                                2006. Kilkenny County                                                                                                     Strategy 2004.

Galway County               Galway City                                            Joint retail strategy 2002                         Galway Council

Limerick                        Limerick County                                      Joint strategy contained in

                                    Limerick City                                          Mid West Retail Strategy                                     Clare County                                                 2003

Drogheda/Dundalk          Louth County                                          No joint strategy.                                                Meath County                                      Louth Retail Strategy 2002

Athlone                         Westmeath County                                 No joint strategy.

                                    Roscommon County                                Meath Retail Strategy 2003

                                                                                                Roscommon Strategy 2002

There is no statutory requirement for non-cooperating local authorities to prepared joint strategies, as the Guidelines are discretionary and not mandatory.  In instances where joint Strategies are deemed necessary, there is a strong case for making their preparation the responsibility of the relevant Regional Authority.  This approach was adopted for the Greater Dublin, Mid East and Mid West Regions.  Indeed the Retail Strategies could form part of the Regional Guidelines, if this becomes a prescribed matter[58]. 

Keeping Strategies up to date and relevant has also been an issue.  The older Strategies are based on 1996 Census material and out-of-date data expenditure information.  While the principles and the policies of the Strategies have proved to be robust, the dated data on which the Strategies are based and higher than anticipated levels of economic and population growth has often meant that the projected quantity of floorspace required has been underestimated.  This is illustrated by a variation to the Cork County Development Plan[59] in January 2007, which stated that as the projected additional floorspace may have been underestimated in the 2002 Strategy, each retail development proposal would be considered on its merits.  This highlights the need to undertake regular monitoring of the trends affecting retail development, preferably on an annual and standardised basis.

If there is evidence that the original strategy under, or overestimated the amount of retail development required, then an interim review of the Strategy may be required.

Allied to this is the need to monitor the effectiveness of the Strategies through health check indicators to assess the vitality and viability of Town Centres.  Annex 2 of the Guidelines highlight the following health indicators, which require monitoring:

i)              Diversity of uses

ii)             Retail rents

iii)           Vacancy levels

iv)           Accessibility changes

v)             Environmental indicators

vi)           Safety

vii)          Commercial yields

viii)        Pedestrian flows

9.3              Data Collection, Analysis and Monitoring

The methods of establishing baseline and forecasting expenditure, which underpins the strategies, varies from strategy to strategy.  There needs to be a consistent approach in determining an up-to-date and accurate estimate of retail store turnover and expenditure per capita.  Working Paper 3 of the Guidelines[60] identifies three alternative primary sources of data for estimating convenience and comparison expenditure:

§                The Annual Services Inquiry (ASI)

§                The National Income and Expenditure Accounts (NIE)

§                The Household Budget Survey (HBS)

The Working Paper considers that the ASI is the most appropriate source for establishing baseline national estimates.  There are, however, varying means by which to update this baseline to the current year (e.g. use of the Retail Sales Index (RSI) or the NIE) and there is uncertainty as to how best to convert national turnover to regional turnover[61]. Population projections should ultimately be based upon the Regional Planning Guidelines and Development Plan assumptions.

Information relating to retail sales density is relatively poor; as such data is rarely volunteered by large retailers.  There is no comprehensive set of data relating to:

§                The number of stores and the retail floorspace

§                Benchmarking for sales density calculations

§                Gross to net sales ratios

In addition to establishing reliable baseline data for the Strategies and Retail Impact Assessments, monitoring of strategies requires accurate up-to-date information, preferably on an annual basis to cover such matters as:

i)              Additional retail floorspace permitted and developed.

ii)             Population changes

iii)           Any significant changes in expenditure per capita

iv)           Householder surveys

Interim variations to the strategies may be required if it is found that any of the underlying assumptions of the original strategy are significantly inaccurate.

9.4              Retail Impact Assessment

The essence of most Retail Strategies and Impact Assessments is to establish the impact on trading patterns of existing centres.  Annex 3 of the Guidelines outline the steps that should be followed in assessing the demand and requirement for additional retail development, while Annex 4 outlines the principles in the assessment of retail impact of individual retail schemes. Annex 3 provides a relatively strong basis for developing retail strategies, although there are issues that need to be addressed in relation to the standardisation of baseline data and assumptions.  However, incompatible data and methodologies for Retail Impact Assessments can hinder, as opposed to assist, the decision making process.  A standardised approach should be adopted and indeed this is recognised in the UK where the Government intend to issue two Guidance notes:

§                Assessing the Need and Impact of New Retail and Leisure Development

§                Applying the Sequential Approach

9.5              Summary

A number of conclusions can be drawn from the above considerations:

§                Joint retail planning strategies should be prepared for all main urban areas in accordance with the Guidelines.

§                Consideration should be given to making joint strategies the responsibility of the relevant Regional Authorities and there should be a statutory requirement to prepare them.

§                Baseline data on retail floorspace, expenditure and population trends needs to be collected on a regular basis at the national, regional and local levels.  Appropriate mechanisms should be put in place to ensure that this information is collated and a national agency or unit could be established.

§                Strategies need to be annually monitored and reviewed before the expiry of the Development Plan, if necessary.

§                Guidance on the preparation of retail impact assessments needs to be prepared.  

[1] Comprising a multi disciplinary team of Roger Tyms, Blackwell & Associates & Goodbody Economic Consultants

[2] American Planning Association (2006) ‘ Regulating Large Scale Retailing'

[3] Maryland Department of Planning (2001), Managing Marylands Growth, Models and Guidelines: Big Box Retail Development

[4] City of Los Angeles (2004) Ordinance No.176, 166, Eff 10/4/04

  City of Oakland (2003), Oakland Municipal Code 17.10.345

[5] Department of the Environment, (1988), ‘Planning Policy Guidance Note 6 - Town Centre and Retail  Developments' , HMSO, London

[6] Department of the Environment, (1993), ‘Planning Policy Guidance Note 6 - Town Centre and Retail

  Developments' , HMSO, London

[7] Department of the Environment, (1996), ‘Planning Policy Guidance Note 6 - Town Centre and Retail

  Developments' , HMSO, London

[8] Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, (2004), ‘Policy Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the PPG6', HMSO,

  London

[9] Ibid

[10] Social Exclusion Unit, (2000), ‘A New Commitment to Neighbourhood Renewal: National Strategy Action

   Plan', Cabinet Office, London

[11] The Institute for Retail Studies, (2006), The Retail Planning Knowledge Base, Briefing Paper 2 -

   Clone Towns

[12] All Party Parliamentary Small Shops Group Inquiry, UK Houses of Parliament

[13] Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, (2005), ‘Planning Policy Statement 6: Planning for Town Centres',  

   HMSO, London

[14]  Department of Regional Development, (2001), ‘Shaping Our Future: Regional Development Strategy for

   Northern Ireland 2025

[15]  Department for Regional Development, (2006), ‘Draft Planning Policy Statement 5: Retailing, Town

    Centres and Commercial Developments'

[16] Report No 382 (2004-2005 by Alain Fouche to the French Senate.

[17] Michael Tophøj Sorensen, (2004), ‘Retail Development and Planning Policy in Denmark' in Planning, Practice &

     Research, Vol. 19, No.2, pp.219-231, May, 2004

[18] Erhvervsministeriet (Ministry of Trade and Industry), (1998), ‘Shops and Consumers - Now and in the

    Future'

[19] Miljøministeriet (Ministry of the Environment), (1997), ‘The Planning Act in Denmark 1997'

[20] Miljøministeriet (Ministry of the Environment), (2002), ‘The Planning Act in Denmark Consolidated Act

    No.763'

[21] Ken Barr, (2002), ‘Legislative Tools for Preserving Town Centres and Halting the Spread of

    Hypermarkets and Malls Outside of Cities', Institute for Transport and Development Policy, New York

[22] Cushman & Wakefield Healy & Baker, (2005), ‘A Guide to Hungary' INREV Conference, Budapest

[23]  ‘1997 Act on the Formation and Protection of the Built Environment'

[24] Report CBRE - MarketView Retail Q3 2006

[25] Central Statistics Office (CSO) Retail Sales

[26] CSO Office Ireland - Number of persons engaged in Wholesale and Retail Services Sector

[27] CSO for Labour Market Employment and Unemployment Statistics

[28] CSO - Average Weekly Earnings

[29]  Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment, (2000) ‘The Impact of the Draft Retail Planning Guidelines on the Retail Sector', Government of Ireland, Dublin

[30] Department of the Environment and Local Government (2002) ‘National Spatial Strategy 2002- 2020'

    Government Publications, Dublin

[31]  Department of Finance (2007), ‘The National Development Plan 2007-2013' Government Publications, Dublin

[32] Department of the Environment and Local Government, (1999), ‘Residential Density - Guidelines for

    Planning Authorities' Government Publications, Dublin

[33] National Roads Authority, (2006), ‘Policy Statement on Development Management and Access to

    National Roads'

[34] Borders, Midlands, Mid West, South West, South East, Dublin and  Mid East Regions

[35] Midlands Regional Authority, (2005), ‘Midlands Regional Planning Guidelines'

[36] Mid West Regional Authority, (2004), ‘Mid West Regional Strategy and Regional Planning Guidelines'

[37] Dublin Transportation Office, (2001), ‘Strategy 2000-2016 - A Platform for Change' , Government

    Publications, Dublin

[38] Dublin Transportation Office, (2003), ‘DTO Advice Note - Retail and Leisure Development'

[39] Cork County Council and  Cork City Council, (2001), ‘Cork Area Strategic Plan 2001-2020'

[40] See Dublin City Development Plan 2005-2011

[41] See ‘Louth County Development Plan 2003-2009'

[42] See ‘Grand Canal Dock Planning Scheme, 2000' and ‘North Lotts Area Planning Scheme 2002'

[43]  Policy S5 of the Dublin City Development Plan, 2005-2011

[44]  Plot ratio is the ratio of floor area to the site area.

[45]  Site coverage is the percentage of the site covered by buildings

[46] Table 6.2 of the Fingal County Development Plan 2005-2011

[47] Table 15.1 of the Dublin City Development Plan 2005-2011

[48] Section 25 of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority Act, 1997

[49] Section 168 of the Planning and Development Act, 2000

[50] Adamstown SDZ, 2003, South Dublin County Council

[51]  North Lotts Area Planning Scheme 2002 (as amended)

[52] Ministerial Circular Letter PD4/2003

[53] Wicklow County Council Contribution Scheme, 2005

[54] Kildare County Council, Athy Town Council, Naas Town Council, Newbridge Town Council Contribution Scheme 2004

[55]  Offaly County Council Contribution Scheme 2004

[56]    Indecon Review of Local Government Financing - Report Commissioned by Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, October 2005

[57]  Retail Ireland Submission to Review of Local Government Financing, September 2004

[58]  Section 23 (2)(j) of the 2000 Planning and Development Act allows for regional guidelines to cover certain   prescribed matters

[59]  Variation No.5

[60]  Working Paper 3 - Retail Planning Guidelines (Roger Tym & Partners and Johnathon Blackwell & Associates)

[61]  Appendix I of Consultation Report for The Greater Dublin Area Retail Planning Strategy (DTZ Pieda Consulting)