ALDI claims refusal of Monivea Road store has cost consumers €685k in savings

Galway Bay fm newsroom – Supermarket retailer ALDI is claiming that the refusal of a store at Monivea Road has cost consumers €685 thousand in savings.

It’s part of a new report which is highly critical of delays in the Irish planning system.

€685,413 – and 75 cent.

That’s what ALDI is claiming consumers have lost in savings as a result of the refusal of a store at Monivea Road late last year.

It’s all contained in a new report compiled by economists at DCU, which looks at the consumer and economic impacts of delays on decision making at An Bord Pleanala.

It outlines how over a five year period, decisions on 13 out of 16 appeals against ALDI planning applications nationwide were delayed.

Decisions are supposed to be made by An Bord Pleanala within 18 weeks, but in one case it took an extra 91 weeks beyond that.

ALDI argues these regular delays have resulted in consumers losing total savings worth €10m in local communities across the country.

It’s also argued that a further €1.7 million per month is lost in spending with ALDI suppliers, 330 of which are local Irish companies