Lidl Ireland GmbH is one of Ireland’s fastest growing food retailers, with over 150 stores in operation throughout the country and plans for a further 40. To cater for their expanding national network, Lidl identified the need to expand their current facility in Newbridge, Co. Kildare which serves as their distribution hub for half of the Dublin and Southern region.

To enable Lidl Ireland’s strategic development for the country in the medium to long term, McCutcheon Halley secured planning permission for a development comprising a new regional distribution centre (RDC) warehouse (c. 57,611m2) and a new distributor road (c. 1.5km in length), an important part of the wider road infrastructure which will serve the RDC warehouse and form part of the Newbridge South Orbital Relief Road.

McCutcheon Halley was appointed as the Planning Lead and Project Coordinator and provided strategic and project-specific advice and direction to both the client and design team to ensure the successful delivery of the application. The McCutcheon Halley team engaged extensively with the planning authority and representatives of Kildare County Council to ensure that the design was planning compliant.

Key issues of the development proposal included:

• Design & Layout – Advising on the quantum of development and the optimum layout of individual elements within the site to ensure protection of local amenities;
• Amenity – addressing the issue of acoustic levels associated during construction and operation of the development ensuring there is no significant noise or vibration impact on sensitive locations, i.e. residential properties;
• Flooding – Due to proximity of the development to existing watercourses, ensure that measures are in place to avoid risk of contamination of surface water run-off and ensure climate changes factors are incorporated;
• Ecology – addressing the potential implications of the proposed development on existing habitats (otters present in Pinkeen Stream and badger setts) within the subject site and the immediate surroundings;
• Landscape & Visual – Ensure that the most visual element of the scheme, the proposed warehouse, will not have adverse impacts on the surrounding landscape specifically the approach to Newbridge from the R137 (Naas Road); and
• Archaeology – Following identification of archaeological features of significance, provision of appropriate mitigation measures was required to ensure there will be no residual impact on the archaeological features of significance.

Result

On the 8th January 2018, Kildare County Council issued a final Grant of Permission (17/563) and noted “having regard to the nature and design of the proposed development, the character of the adjoining development, the Kildare County Development Plan 2017-2023, the Newbridge Local Area Plan 2013-2019 and the Environmental Impact Assessment, it is considered that, subject to compliance with the conditions attached, the proposed development would not seriously injure the amenities of the area of property in the vicinity”.