The High Court yesterday ordered An Bord Pleanala to decide if the sale of hot food in convenience stores, such as Spar stores, was an unauthorised development. The board had claimed it could consider the question only if a store owner had installed a hot food section subsequent to opening its store but not if it sold hot food from the date of the granting of planning permission.
In a reserved judgment, Ms Justice McGuinness was ruling on an action brought by Palmerlane Ltd, which operates a Spar store at Dame Street, Dublin, against An Bord Pleanala.
She said in a situation where many convenience stores operated in the same way as the Dame Street store, it seemed to be "in accordance with reason and common sense" that questions such as this should be decided on by those with expertise in the planning area - An Bord Pleanala.
On March 6th, 1996, Dublin Corporation issued the shop owner with a warning notice about an unauthorised use in respect of the sale of take-away hot food. The matter was referred to An Bord Pleanala, which refused to consider the shop owner's application. The shop owner then issued High Court proceedings.