Main points

Floorspace of stores restricted to 3,500 square metres in the Greater Dublin Area, 3,000 square metres elsewhere.

Large food outlets should be provided - near public transport links - in a town, major village or district centre on the edge of a town centre.

The development of new large-scale regional retail centres is not regarded as sustainable given, transport objectives. Development in the countryside should be resisted.

Minimum floorspace cap of 700 square metres on retail warehouses, with a maximum of of 6,000 square metres (including ancillary garden centres).

Local authority development plans to identify the need for new district centres or extensions to existing centres.

Planning policies should be supportive of local facilities in small towns and villages. There is a "clear presumption" in favour of central or edge-of-town locations for new developments.

Where a planning authority can substantiate clearly the "importance" of local shops in defined centres, they should safeguard them in development plans through land-use zoning.