Big retail chain in Laois given green light for Click and Collect service

Dunnes Stores has been granted retention planning permission  for a portacabin that operates its Click and Collect service in a Laois retail park. 

Better Value Unlimited Company applied to Laois County Council for retention of a 43 sqm portacabin, ramp, and Armco barrier located within the Dunnes Stores Supermarket Service Yard in the Barrow Valley Retail Park in Graiguecullen.

The portacabin is used as an Online Pick Room (i.e. for the processing and storage of  online click-and-collect grocery orders). Permission was also sought to extend the service yard’s overhead canopy, and all other associated and ancillary site/development works.

The local authority sought further information on the use of a rear service lane for loading and unloading of goods. 

"A site inspection revealed that the rear service lane is now used for the loading and unloading of goods and the area is heavily congested as a result," the planner stated. 

In response the applicant said: "Since the opening of the supermarket in 2006, both the service yard and the shared service lane have been used in tandem, forming a long-established and compliant servicing strategy for the Dunnes Stores supermarket. Primary deliveries are made via  the service yard, where vehicles reverse into position to unload goods at ground level  using tail lifts. Secondary deliveries, typically by smaller vehicles (e.g. bread and milk  vans), use the shared service lane when the service yard is occupied. This servicing  arrangement is long-established, operationally efficient, and fully aligns with the original  design intent of the Retail Park."

The applicant also provided Swept path analysis drawings prepared by NRB Engineering to show that all listed service vehicles can safely manoeuvre in and out of  the yard with the portacabin in place.

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The Council also requested further information in relation to a refuse storage area and found the response acceptable.  

In the original planning application Dunnes Stores outlined the benefit of having the Click and Collect service: "The retention of the store’s online pick room allows customers to shop and pay for groceries either in person or online, helping to retain convenience spending within the Carlow and  Graiguecullen area. Since customers still need to visit the store to collect their purchases, footfall levels at the centre will remain steady. This maintains opportunities for linked trips to  other commercial units within the retail park which will help maintain the vitality and viability of  the Graiguecullen district centre."

In relation to the extension of the service yard’s overhead canopy, the planning documents state: "The existing canopy in the service yard currently covers only a small area above the entrance to the store’s stock room area. To protect the service yard from inclement weather, permission is  sought to extend the canopy over the service yard."

Retention planning permission was granted with 13 conditions attached.