DonabatePortrane.net

As we have the most expensive SuperValu in Ireland, I was looking forward to some competition moving into the village. the site on Turvey, which was supposed to be an Aldi or a Lidl was granted planning permission on 25th May 2022, 16 months ago.

The is a single objector to the development, Mr <Mod Snip> (his name is on the objection and in the public domain so I presume its ok to post it here) who has submitted an objection of some 59 pages to an Bord Pleanala, it is a rambling document covering the ownership of newspapers where the ad was placed, stain glassed windows in the church, graves, roads, water, elevations, glass, birds and long, long references to the historical significance of the area blah, blah, blah - to be honest I lost interest on about page 7 - he's clearly a chap with lots of time on his hands,.

He has made a single objection, paid his €220, but he has also added in about 20 other objections as "Part 2" of his objection that were submitted to the Fingal Planning process, but those people did not choose to bring their objections to the Bord, they may have accepted the decision, but he has submitted their letters with his, I presume to lend weight to the argument. he is presenting - the correct process would be for each objector who felt strongly enough about the supermarket being granted planning permission to take their case to the Bord directly, not for Mr <Mod Snip> to scoop them up and add them into his objection.

Meanwhile, 16 months later, in my view he is holding the entire community to ransom and stopping a vital amenity for the area with a single €220 payment? I contacted the Bord today and all they can say it that the application will be reviewed in time. It seems like a badly broken system where one man can stop a service that would potentially assist over 10,000 people in Donabate/Portrane for almost a year and a half?

It's called democracy.

It's not a good place to put a supermarket - somewhere on the the by pass road makes more sense.
That site - maybe a simpler newsagent might work but if you want something to compete with supervalue you are talking a lot more traffic in a narrow road.

Not sure I agree with you , trying to get a lynch mob together from the community, by naming the objector. What do you hope to achieve by naming and trying to shame him. If it’s legal, he’s done nothing wrong but you shouldn’t try to get a mob together against him!

Sorry Bateboy, don't agree with you at all, we live in a democracy and I'm afraid, while the individuals name is clearly visible on the objection, your post smells of a personal grudge and an attempt to rally the village against him. I think at this stage, we are all desperate for another supermarket but I don't think the Turvey Avenue is the right place, practically one of the narrowest stretches of road in the village.

BateBoy, you are factually incorrect. Mr <Mod Snip> is not the only person to lodge an appeal with An Bord Pleanala in relation to the Aldi supermarket on Turvey Avenue.

Mr <Mod Snip> did not "scoop up" 20 other objections of people who had accepted the decision of Fingal County Council.

These 20 letters were submitted by residents who strongly object to a supermarket being built on land that is designated and Architectural Conservation Area and that is situated on a narrow country road.

Admin Note - Please do not post people's names on the site. Posts have been edited.

1. If you are going to try to “name and shame” someone, have the gumption to use your own name on your profile, not an alias!
2. Communities often get together and submit an appeal under one person’s name. You don’t know how many people’s names are on that appeal!
3. Nobody is holding the town to ransom, people are allowed to make appeals and voice their concerns!
4. Nobody is suggesting that there shouldn’t be competition with SuperValu but there are far more suitable sites than a dangerous corner on the Turvey Avenue.
5. People are allowed to make appeals, if you felt so strongly about the supermarket going ahead, you should have submitted a response to the appeal at the time, instead of trying to rip apart the name of a very kind and decent person retrospectively! In my opinion your post should be removed for its insensitive and uncalled for nature.

There seems to be overwhelming support for the injection lodged by Mr Whatshisface. That’s fair enough!

On a point of order, we do live in a democracy, I respect Mr Whatshisface’s right to object, but I do not respect the process where €220 can potentially deprive a community of a vital resource for 16 months plus. I am absolutely not suggesting that Mr Whatshisface has any ulterior motive, but larger supermarkets can and do employ planning consultants to produce coherent, professional objections in order to drag the process out and maintain their monopoly - I am positive this is not the case here, because the objection, to my mind is too personal, too emotional to be professionally produced. But, the system that allows this is flawed and it needs to be changed.

On the democracy front, I always find it amusing that people say ‘It’s called democracy’ or ‘hello? we live in a democracy!’ And then immediately attack my democratic right to voice MY opinion.

On the ‘name and shame’ front, I don’t agree with what is happening on this objection, I haven’t put my name on this forum because I don’t have to and I don’t want to, This is a discussion forum read by about 50 people, lodging a 59 page objection to what would be, in my view, a vital amenity, is very much in the public domain and naming the gentleman in question is not ‘whipping up a lynch mob’, but I can see how perhaps I should t have used his name - possibly my frustration with the situation clouded my judgement there.

I don’t have a car, I have no choice but to do my shopping in a SuperValu, where multiple items in my weekly shop are about 10-20-% dearer than even the SuperValu in Swords Pavillions - An Aldi or. a Lidl will help me significantly financially and I am sure there are others in my position, I want it to go ahead for possibly selfish reasons, but if anyone thinks that any planning application being blocked for almost a year and half by a single objector is ‘fair’ - I can’t see that point at all.

People are entitled to object and I think many would agree that we need another supermarket. However, many will also agree that Turvey isn't a suitable location.

People are entitled to object to planning permission, it's the system that needs looking at when it takes this long to process through ABP.

BateBoy wrote: ↑04 Sep 2023, 09:15 <snipped for brevity>

I don’t have a car, I have no choice but to do my shopping in a SuperValu, where multiple items in my weekly shop are about 10-20-% dearer than even the SuperValu in Swords Pavillions - An Aldi or. a Lidl will help me significantly financially and I am sure there are others in my position, I want it to go ahead for possibly selfish reasons, but if anyone thinks that any planning application being blocked for almost a year and half by a single objector is ‘fair’ - I can’t see that point at all.

Do you not subscribe to the delivery service availiable from Dunnes, Tesco and Supavalu?

Just as an addendum to the discussion, I bought the ingredients for one dinner, 2 melons and a bag of sweets in SV on Friday - €38
I bought the ingredients for one dinner and two melons on Saturday €29

So I decided to look at delivery as suggested - I did an entire weeks shopping, food for several meals, store cupboard stuff, spices etc and toiletries etc and it came in at €126 plus €7 for delivery €133,

My biggest problem is with the planning system and the prices in SuperValu, it is a total rip off because they have a captive audience and a complete monopoly, the objection that is holding up the new supermarket, is, in my view - frivolous and vexatious, but it is the system that allows people to carry on in this fashion that is more flawed than it's participants.

Jasis, what do you eat for dinner!? I can feed four a nutritious and delicious meal for under a tenner.

If you sign up for delivery saver in Tesco, it's 10 a month for weekly delivery, if you are happy to get it on Tuesday to Thursday.

I agree we need another option to SuperValu but there's plenty of room along the new road and it's only going to be for locals (no-one's coming from Swords or Rush, they have their own options already) so no need to be near the train station.

I believe ABP have granted permission for the Aldi on Turvey Avenue. Adrian Henchy posted it on Facebook.