Fresh planning bid launched in attempt to keep Tipperary store's doors open

A Tipperary retailer has submitted a fresh bid to keep their store open after An Bord Pleanála ruled last year that the outlet should be refused retention permission.

The Mr Price outlet in Tipperary Town had opened without planning permission at the Tipperary Town Retail Park, just off the Limerick Road in the town.

The units in the retail park are zoned as office use, not retail, and An Bord Pleanála upheld a Tipperary County Council decision to refuse the retailer retention permission to continue operating there.

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Now, Corajio, the company behind Mr Price have submitted a fresh application for retention permission to Tipperary County Council.

The new planning application seeks retention for unit one and unit two as a shop for the retail sale of goods including ancillary staff offices and canteen along with all shopfront signage.

The application states that Mr Price "invested €1.5million in Tipperary Town, purchasing the Tipperary Town Retail Park, which has remained vacant since construction".

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The application states that Mr Price "operated his existing business from two units having found great difficulty in identifying an alternative, suitable, available and viable premises in the town."

The application also states that because the Tipperary Town and Environs Development Plan has now expired, the land that the Mr Price outlet sits on is now unzoned, and says that attention must be paid to the established uses of other units in the area, with Dunnes Stores, Dealz and Tesco all in close proximity to the Mr Price outlet.

Tipperary County Council are due to make a decision on the fresh planning application by May 12.