Members of Ballina Town Council this week tried to block the opening of a new bookmakers in the town as they agreed the new development plan for the town.
However they were thwarted in this effort when they were informed that there was nothing they can do about it, because under planning laws a bookmakers is a shop and as long as it supplies a good or service, and complies with all planning regulations, the town engineer’s hands were tied in relation to the granting of planning permission.
The issue was raised by Fine Gael Councillor Mark Winters at the end of a lengthy meeting where the councillors made a number of amendments to the plan after they were brought through the submissions and the manager’s report on each submission.
Cllr Winters asked: “I want the manager to explain why we can’t get a description of the type of business that is going into a shop in the town at the planning application.” This sentiment was backed up by Fianna Fáil Cllr Padraic Moore who told the meeting that: “ I remember we had an application for one not so long ago and the town engineer told me that he had no legal right to refuse the planning permission because it was a bookmakers, that’s why we want something in the plan about it, we have enough of them already in the town.”
Stephen Dowds, a planning consultant retained by the town council for the preparation of the plan, explained to the elected members that “the difficulty is that a shop is a shop and once it supplies goods and services that’s all it needs to be. The difficulty you face is that the planning system doesn’t see the difference between a book shop and a bookies.”
Cllr Moore went on to say: “We have something that is destroying the heart of the town. I would like something in the plan to say that you’re not welcome here. If they want to take us to court and prove us wrong then let them do it.” Mr Dowds suggested a compromise to the members, that a line could be inserted into the plan which reads “The council is concerned about the proliferation of turf accountants, takeaways, and discount shops and a retail impact statement may be required.”
Earlier in the meeting the idea of a retail impact statement was put before the council, which would force the applicant into providing a survey that will show there is a need for such a business in the town and the effect it will have on existing business and the area it is in.
The councillors did have some success earlier in the evening when a proposal by Independent Cllr Mary Kelly was passed that no bookmakers could go into the different areas identified by the town council as locations for neighbourhood commercial centres around the town. These neighbourhood centres are planned by the council to encourage local shops and services such as doctors, dentists, and small shops in a prescribed area close to large residential areas.
