The Tesco store in Roscrea, Co Tipperary, has been found to be partly unauthorised because key elements of the original scheme were not implemented by its developers, Limerick-based Tiernan Properties.

An Bord Pleanála senior planning inspector Mary Kennelly said there was "no legal provision for amending an unauthorised development without first resolving non-compliant issues/elements", such as the absence of a planned café and landscaped plaza.

Upholding a planning appeal by Planning Roscrea's Future community action group, the board overturned North Tipperary County Council's decision to approve amendments to the scheme, including relocation of the proposed café at first-floor level. In its ruling, the board said the omission of this facility on Tesco's ground floor – which it had "explicitly required" in its June 2009 decision to approve the scheme – would "militate against" the provision of a vibrant and safe pedestrian plaza.

Sensitive site
Referring to the "sensitivity of the site" close to Roscrea's round tower, the board said the proposed development would "seriously injure the visual amenities of the area [and] adversely affect the setting of the adjacent protected structures".

The inspector noted that Tiernan Properties “was adamant that there is no unauthorised element” in the development as built, saying the plaza had not yet been completed due to “ongoing negotiations” with the county council and the Office of Public Works.

But Ms Kennelly’s report pointed out that escalators and stairs had been installed in the glazed area overlooking the plaza that was earmarked for the café, saying that it was “quite clear that the intention of the board” was that it would be located there.

The board’s 2009 decision to approve the scheme, subject to conditions, was made against the advice of another inspector, who recommended that permission be refused because of its adverse visual impact on the round tower, among other reasons.

“In deciding not to accept the inspector’s recommendation to refuse permission, the board had particular regard to the design of the anchor store within its urban context and the enhancements proposed in the form of a new town plaza adjacent to the round tower.”