LIDL’S recently rejected plans for an Abbeyfeale grocery store shows its confidence in the town, says glass-half-full Fianna Fáil councillor Francis Foley.
However, the former mayor now wants urgent action from the local authority to act on the German discount supermarket chain’s belief in the West Limerick market town, before it is too late.
The Limerick Post joined Cllr Foley on the proposed Killarney Road site, where Lidl were refused permission by the Council to develop a store. This decision also was upheld by An Coimisiún Pleanála.
With the potential to create up to 70 jobs locally, after the recent loss of 140 jobs at Kostal’s manufacturing plant earlier this year, time, the Fianna Fáil man insists, is of the essence. He is hopeful that the Council will follow through and rezone the land from enterprise and employment to retail to allow Lidl reapply for planning permission.
“There was an awful lot of disappointment when planning was refused, and there’s still an awful lot of disappointment. People can’t understand, especially as there’s already a hardware store on the site, why this isn’t allowed. I have had discussions over the last couple of months with all the stakeholders, with Lidl, and the planners, and we need to find a solution because we really need Lidl in Abbeyfeale,” Cllr Foley tells this reporter.
“They’re already in Listowel and they’re in Castleisland. People are leaving Abbeyfeale to shop elsewhere and we want to keep business in the town. It’s important that we find a solution and do whatever it takes to deliver this. People want Lidl in the town, because it will bring in footfall.”
The Abbeyfeale native is quietly confident, after conversations with Council Director General Dr Pat Daly, that the local authority will do their “damnedest” to get Lidl’s plans over the line.
“Lidl won’t wait around for the next two or three years. They’re very anxious to open a store in Abbeyfeale. This would be a win-win for the town with up to 70 full-time and part-time jobs, and we need a bit of a lift after the jobs losses in Kostal. People feel we’re being forgotten when it comes to bringing new jobs into town. There isn’t a family in West Limerick not affected by the jobs going in Kostal,” he explains.
At last month’s full meeting of Limerick City and County Council, Director General Dr Pat Daly told councillors that they have to be careful as they are dealing with a zoning issue as well as an economic issue.
“I don’t think this local authority has ever failed in terms of supporting economic development and getting behind it. It just has to be done carefully and it has to be done sequentially in terms of planning and the process. That does not guarantee any planning permission thereafter,” he stated.
Dr Daly also said that it might now be a case of the Council having to reprioritise the process. However, he did point out that the local authority is “stretched” in the forward planning area.
“I will do all I can to make sure we try and solve it,” he vowed.
Lidl says it is still “leaving the door open” for a store in Abbeyfeale, and hopes this can happen “as soon as possible”.
– Local Democracy Reporting Scheme