A while back, I opined that An Bord Pleanala’s decision to prevent Heatons from moving into a ‘bulky goods only’ retail park on the outskirts of Carrick-on-Suir wouldn’t lead to the closure of any of Heatons’ other outlets already operating in Bulky Goods Parks elsewhere in the country. Perhaps I’m about to be proved wrong. For, in a totally separate situation, An Bord ruled a couple of weeks ago that discount fashion retailer, TK Maxx, were in breach of planning by operating an outlet at the Butlerstown Bulky Goods Park on the outskirts of Waterford. The County Council is about to shut them down.

The background to this is years of ding-dong between the City and the County about both the siting of retail parks as well as the type of traders who are being allowed to take up leases in them: the City is annoyed at the County’s policy of granting planning permissions to develop Bulky Parks right on the city/county border and then ignoring the retail guidelines by allowing non-bulky retailers to move in, thereby sucking the rich-urban-experience/rates out of the city centre.

In a strange irony, it wasn’t the City but rather a disgruntled local developer who brought the matter to the Bord’s attention. And now, no doubt, disgruntled developers all over the country are lining up to get their own back on rivals by challenging the bulkiness of the goods being sold by PCWorld, Smyths, Argos, Elverys, Mothercare and all the other Bulky Goods Park habitués in full expectation of having them put out of business.

When the bureaucrats were writing the retail sales guidelines, didn’t it occur to anyone that the term ‘bulky’ was, perhaps, an inadvisably non-technical one to be using in the context of the Irish planning system where all that ever happens is a) new grey areas are predictably exploited by a certain element of the community who’s only interest is personal gain and b) the rest of us are left to pay when the same grey areas stops laying golden eggs? (Sorry.)

Meanwhile, I understand An Bord is now considering ordering Homebase to stop selling nails, pots of paint, pelmets, lampshades, cappuccinos, rawl plugs, wallpaper, kettles, steamers, juicers, weighing scales and toilet seats.