Fast-food restaurant Supermacs will be forced to continue closing at one o’clock in the morning after An Bord Pleanála refused the local franchise permission to trade later on weekends.
The planning authority quashed an appeal from the Kilkenny restaurant franchisee to allow Supermacs to trade until 3am on weekends, after Kilkenny Borough Council similarly refused the establishment, permission to extend their trading hours.
And the decision has already led to the loss of a number of part-time positions within the company and a reduction of hours for permanent staff, according to franchise owner Paul O’Brien.
“We are terribly disappointed. There are other businesses of a similar nature trading to the time that we were trading to or later, so there is possibly a sense that the consistency isn’t there,” he told the Kilkenny Advertiser this week.
“There have been a number of part-time staff employed specifically for the given time period affected by the restrictions, who are no longer working with us, which is regrettable.
“Then there is the ripple effect where the volume of produce we are taking from our suppliers, which are all Irish, won’t be as much as previously.
“We had hoped we would be given permission to trade as our competitors are, on a level playing field.”
Until last month, Supermacs on High Street had continued to open until approximately 3am on Saturdays and Sundays for more than a decade, in breach of the relevant planning permission.
However, a High Court injunction secured by the local authority in July, ensured that Supermacs was forced to cease trading after 1am on weekends from last month.
According to Mr O’Brien, the restaurant had traded until 3am on weekends for 15 years, unaware that it was in violation of planning permission.
However, the council began enforcement proceedings against the restaurant last year in an effort to stop the practice and subsequently refused permission to extend the trading hours to 3am on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holiday Mondays.
That decision was made due to a fear that the proposed extension “would lead to further intensification of noise, disturbance and littering” in the early hours of the morning, injuring the amenities of the city centre.
Mr O’Brien, trading as Sinco Restaurants Ltd, appealed that decision to An Bord Pleanála, seeking extended opening hours on weekends and bank holidays.
Sinco claimed an extension of opening hours would safeguard up to 15 jobs by establishing and maintaining shift patterns as well as to meet a proven demand for facilities and dilute the flow of people from pubs out onto the streets.
They said they carried out regular litter patrols to deal with the litter issue and claimed that, despite the current development plan opposing fast food establishments in the area, there were already a number of such facilities.
The Keep Kilkenny Beautiful committee made a submission to An Bord Pleanála in an observer role supporting the refusal of planning permission, largely due to extensive littering.
The group noted the historical importance of the location opposite the Tholsel and claimed that the restaurant aided easy take-away for customers through the provision of packaging and disposable utensils, despite not having permission to trade as a take-away.
The main issues considered in An Bord Pleanála’s assessment of the appeal were the noise, litter and public safety issues and the policy of the current development plan.
And the board took the advice of their inspector, refusing the application on the grounds that it went against the development plan and would lead to increased levels of noise and litter.
Mr O’Brien said the restaurant was assessing the situation, but having already been through the High Court and An Bord Pleanála there seemed little choice but to accept the ruling.
