A Tipperary Town based County Councillor says the local authority and An Bord Pleanala had no option but to refuse permission for Mr Price to continue trading at their current location in the town.
The discount store occupies two units in the Tipperary Town Retail Park on the Limerick Road.
The park is designated for light industrial use and specifically rules out shops and supermarkets.
Sinn Féin representative Anne Marie Ryan told Tipp Today earlier that while Mr Price is an asset to the town both from an employment and shopping point of view they need to adhere to the planning regulations.
She says a town centre location would be more appropriate.
“Anyone who lives in Tipp Town knows we have a lot of vacant units in the town centre and the one that would fit Mr Price in my opinion is the former small Super Valu on Bank Place which would be ideal for them. So I suppose they didn’t explore that in the eyes of the planners and look realistically they’re not going to because they own that unit above there (in the Tipperary Town Retail Park) so they probably don’t want to go in and rent somewhere else. But you’ve got to look at the development of the town and you’re trying to revitalise.”
Councillor Ryan says while keeping Mr Price in the town is important the discount store cannot be allowed to flout planning laws.
“Even if you explored that (the old Super Valu site) and you had ruled out that option and had done the background work on it and looked at the retail impact assessment in the town centre there may have been some movement within the local authority and An Bord Pleanala but it looks to me like Mr Price didn’t do any of those things that they were supposed to have done in the first place so we’re now at a situation where we’ve got a good business that we want to keep in our town and jobs under threat.”
