The High Court ordered an immediate halt to all retail use at two Homesavers premises in Tramore and Dungarvan after finding that neither site had planning permission for retail use. At a third site on Cork Road, Waterford, the court permitted some retail activity but barred sales of food, non-durable household goods, clothing and footwear.
Mr Justice Garrett Simons delivered the ruling on 16 December 2020 in an enforcement application by Waterford City and County Council under section 160 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. The council had sought orders concerning alleged unauthorised retail development at three premises and the removal of unauthorised signs and advertisements.
The respondents accepted that Tramore and Dungarvan had no extant permission allowing retail use. They had submitted retention-permission applications, but the council had invalidated the first applications for failing to meet regulatory requirements; replacement applications had been submitted shortly before the hearing.
The judge held that the pending applications did not justify delaying enforcement. He found that there was no planning permission for any retail use at either site, making the breaches significant and material. The court also rejected submissions that retail might be acceptable under local zoning, explaining that the court could not anticipate a planning authority’s decision on retention permission.
At the Waterford premises, the dispute concerned a 2000 planning permission for retail warehousing. The council argued that the permission restricted sales to bulky goods. The judge rejected that interpretation: guidelines defining retail warehouses as stores for bulky goods were issued after the permission was granted and could not be used to change its meaning. He found that the permission allowed non-bulky comparison goods, but excluded convenience goods, including food and non-durable household goods, as well as clothing and footwear. Evidence showed that the store had sold household groceries, food and clothes.
The court ordered the respondents and others with notice of the order to stop all retail use at the Tramore and Dungarvan sites from midnight that night. At Waterford, the order bars sales of the excluded categories. Unauthorised signs and advertisement structures at all three sites must be removed within 72 hours.
The judgment did not decide who bears the burden of proving whether a planning permission authorises development; the judge said that issue should be addressed in proceedings where it is necessary and more fully argued. The court also allowed the council to amend its originating notice to refer to the correct, 2000 permission. Costs remained unresolved, with written submissions to follow if the parties could not agree.