The Grafton Group plc-owned Woodies DIY is objecting to the draft Railway Order for the planned Dublin MetroLink over the impact it will have on a Woodies DIY outlet in Swords in north Dublin.
The Grafton Group operates a Woodies DIY outlet that includes a garden centre and a 170 space car park adjoining the Seatown roundabout in Swords.
In a 22-page objection to the MetroLink, planning consultant for Woodies DIY, Alan Whelan, said the current MetroLink proposal would “have an unacceptable impact on businesses such as Woodies”.
Mr Whelan of O’Connor Whelan planning consultancy said this could be avoided by a simple realignment of the scheme at the location.
The MetroLink scheme is to comprise 16 new stations running from Swords to Charlemont and will carry 53 million passengers annually. An Bord Pleanála has confirmed it received 318 submissions on the draft Railway Order.
Mr Whelan has told An Bord Pleanála that the proposed route of MetroLink would have an unacceptable impact on the operation of the Woodies store, so much so that it may affect the viability and practical use of retail at the location and the practicality of running a business there would “be compromised for a number of years, or indeed permanently”.
Mr Whelan said the current planned route “cannot be decided on until a cost-benefit analysis has been undertaken, including an assessment of the impact on existing businesses and development sites”.
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He said “this analysis should have been undertaken and provided to all stakeholders, which it has not”.
The basis for the objection was the length of the construction period; the negative impact on access to the Woodies site; the negative impact on car parking for the Woodies store and its external garden centre, Mr Whelan said.
Mr Whelan said the proposed works were for an unnecessarily long time, would permanently damage trade and would severely impact the customer experience at the store.
He said the environmental impact assessment report (EIAR) lodged with the scheme indicated that the duration of works at the Woodie’s satellite site would be 4½ years.
Mr Whelan said that while the location of the store per se would not be affected by the acquisition of lands, the location and extent of the external garden centre of the store would be severely curtailed to such a degree that it would have to be relocated on the site.
