Meath County Council has granted planning permission to Lidl for a supermarket and Cafe unit in the heart of Dunboyne village.

The plans drew huge opposition in the area with some 263 submissions made on the planning application. In particular, residents were concerned over changes being proposed to the village green area to facilitate the development, including the removal of parking spaces.

The planned development by Lidl includes a single storey discount food store with a gross floor area of 2,220sqm and net sales area of 1,409swm with an ancillary off licence area together with parking for 119 cars.

The decision, which is virtually certain to be appealed to An Bord Pleanalá has sparked outrage in the south county village.

One source told Meath Live, ‘ There are 263 objections gone in, the closing date for submissions was December 19th, factor in a two to three week Christmas holiday period, and accept that some of those objections were very very detailed, so can anyone really have studied the objections properly in such a short space of time.

Cllr. Maria Murphy.

Fine Gael councillor Maria Murphy slammed the decision on social media, saying, ‘An unbelievable decision’, and she told us, ‘I was surprised they got permission, the planners had two other options they could have refused permission or looked for further information.

‘In fact if you study what is quite a detailed planners report a number of sections in the council did suggest further information be sought but the planners took what I would label an unusual approach to the whole thing.’