Tesco appeals against plans for Aldi Store.

Tesco have asked An Bord Pleanala to overturn Fingal County Council’s planning approval for a controversial Aldi Store in Mulhuddart village.

P&A Dunne had applied to demolish the old school house in the village and construct a single storey convenience foodstore with an off licence and car park. 

There were nine submissions made and eight of these were opposed to the development. Most of the objections were based on increased traffic volumes and alcohol sales. 

The Developers have indicated that Aldi was a likely tenant for the store. 

It is ironic that Tesco Ireland has appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanala. In 2010 local traders objected to an application for the Tesco store at Padi Ogs public house across the road from the old school house. 

One local Councillor supported that development claiming that the increased competition would be welcomed in an area where 40% of the households were single parents. 

The Tesco appeal to An Bord Pleanala is based on traffic volumes and congestion. Could another reason be that Aldi can beat them on price in Mulhuddart village as they have done everywhere else they go. 

Planning Application Details FW11A/0122      

Date of Application: 09-Dec-2011 

Date of Registration: 09-Dec-2011      Application Type: Permission 
Case Officer: Louise Murphy Applicant: P &A Dunne Location: Main Street, Mulhuddart, Dublin 15 

Proposal: Planning permission for the demolition of existing buildings(335 sq. m.) 

Decision: GRANT PERMISSION    Date of FCC Decision: 09-Feb-2012
Current Status: Application under appeal 

On 09-Feb-2012, a decision GRANT PERMISSION was made by Fingal County Council on this application. 

An appeal has subsequently been lodged on 07-Mar-2012 and is now under consideration by An Bord Pleanala.

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Unemployment Doubles in Dublin 15

The latest Live Register figures for Dublin 15 show that another 328 of people signed on the dole during the month of March. This brings to 7,635 the number of people signing on in the Blanchardstown Social Welfare Office. This time last year, that figure stood at 3,650 - an increase of 92%. Of those, 1,669 were under 25s this figure has risen by up 96% since March 2008

These local figures bring home the stark reality of the economic crisis this country is in.
We need strong and decisive action from the government to tackle the problem of unemployment in particular long-term unemployment. In the 1970s and 80s, Dublin 15 was blighted by long-term unemployment and the associated problems of crime, medical problems and family breakdown. We can not allow this to happen again.

Fine Gael has proposed a number of measures to get Ireland working again. These include:

- Waiving Employers PRSI for new employees taken on over the next two years;
- Set up a loan guarantee for viable small businesses in distress;
- Overhaul the 1bn FAS budget and provide new training grants for budding entrepreneurs to avail of education and training;
- Reduce the qualifying period for the Back to Enterprise allowance from two years to six months;
- Rewrite the National Development Plan to frontload labour-intensive projects.

Earlier this month, Fine Gael launched a national stimulus plan which would bring the National Pension Fund back home to invest in. This would create an extra 100,000 jobs in the economy through investment in green energy and a modern infrastructure.

I support these measures, and am working closely with Dublin West TD Leo Varadkar who has raised these issues in the Dil repeatedly over the past two years.
The latest decision by the rating agency S&P to downgrade Irelands credit rating is bad news for Ireland at a very bad time making borrowing more expensive and making it even harder for the economy to recover. Interestingly the S&P hinted they do not expect decisive action from the government this side of a general election, so the sooner that happens the better for all of us.


CSO Figures:
Local Office County Feb-09 Mar-09 Change % Change
Blanchardstown Dublin 7307 7635 328 4.5%

Local Office County Mar-08 Mar-09 Change % Change
Blanchardstown Dublin 3985 7635 3650 91.6%

Under 25s
Local Office County Mar-08 Feb-09 Mar-09 Monthly Change Yearly Change
Blanchardstown Dublin 851 1594 1669 75 4.7% 818 96.1%

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‘Mulhuddart/Clonsilla area shortchanged in Council Annual Works Plan – Dennison’

Dublin West Fine Gael Representative Kieran Dennison has hit out at the poor deal the Mulhuddart Area has received from the 2008 Council Works Programme.

Two thirds of the package worth €3.9m will be spent in Castleknock and only one third in the Mulhuddart electoral area. Mr. Dennison, who has just been appointed one of the party’s local representatives in the area, says he “felt that local Councillors had failed the Mulhuddart Ward and had some explaining to do”.

Of the 26 Special Roads Contribution Schemes totalling €1.1million, only 4 are in Mulhuddart with a spend of €135,000. Castleknock will benefit from 18 footpath improvement schemes as against 11 for the Mulhuddart Electoral Area. Similarly, 2 of the 3 new pedestrian crossings will be provided in the Castleknock area along with 7 of the 10 new lighting projects. Of the 9 Flood Relief projects only 2 will be in Mulhuddart.

Under the Parks Program the Council will spend €183,000 in Castleknock on improvements to open spaces such as railings, footpaths and lighting and provision of new playgrounds leaving a measly €50,000 for all of Mulhuddart, Clonsilla, Ongar, Tyrrellstown and Clonee.

Kieran Dennison asked “where were the FF and left wing Mulhuddart Councillors when this largesse was being handed out”. He noted that a Castleknock Councillor was quoted in a recent issue of Community Voice as “being very pleased with the programme as it contains a large number of projects that I have sought funding for”. He said that “while the roads and footpaths in Castleknock were getting higher and higher from resurfacing, residents in Mulhuddart had to settle for broken pavements and endure gridlock from outdated signalling at traffic lights. Meanwhile another €100,000 is being allocated to ‘look into’ changing the wasteful one way system on the Clonsilla Road”

At €3.9 million the Castleknock/Mulhuddart area received the lowest allocation from the total of €13.3 million the Council will spend on the Scheme in its Local Areas. This is in spite of the fact that the area generates the greater proportion of Fingal’s income. In a parting shot Dennison added “It seems that areas with a Fine Gael Councillor such as Castleknock, Malahide and Swords are getting much better representation, perhaps it’s time Mulhuddart had one as well”.

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