THEY style themselves as shops “designed for the way we live today” but An Taisce, the National Trust for Ireland, has claimed that the “increasingly brash and lurid” shopfronts of convenience stores are destroying the fabric of Dublin.

The planning watchdog has filed documents with the city council claiming that Spar, Centra and Londis “are showing an increasing contempt and disregard for planning laws and requirements”, and that their obtrusive, gaudy facades are ruining the capital’s historic streetscapes.

Kevin Duff, a spokesman for An Taisce, says Centra and Spar are the chief offenders. “These shops are openly flouting planning regulations and there is now a significant level of unauthorised development and non-compliance with planning authority decisions in Dublin, where a new convenience store seemingly opens on a weekly basis,” he said.

“We’ve identified at least 20 examples of these stores disregarding planning regulations. The city council is reluctant to get tough with them and doesn’t want to get involved in messy legal battles, but the situation is getting out of hand. It’s only a matter of time before it spreads to other urban areas.”

The city council has issued enforcement orders against a number of convenience stores in recent months and admits that there have been a growing number of complaints from the public about the visual impact of such shops.

“We have taken action against several shops recently, forcing them to remove unauthorised signs,” said Rory O’Byrne, an enforcement officer. “We’re not actively targeting convenience stores, but we do investigate any reports of unauthorised development.”

An Taisce claims that when convenience stores open, they sometimes use cheap plastic signage emblazoned with their logos and claim that it is a temporary arrangement.

Duff said: “There is a Londis on O’Connell Street, right in the heart of an area with its own special planning controls, that has had a temporary sign outside it for almost 18 months. The policy appears to be to establish themselves visually with a big, bold sign and leave it in place for as long as possible.”

Londis admitted that erecting a permanent sign on its O’Connell Street store was taking longer than expected.

Spar has also been known to erect bold plastic “temporary” shopfronts, Duff claims. “The Spar on Patrick Street had ‘temporary’ signage for eight months. It has finally been removed and replaced with a stainless steel sign, but it’s completely different to what was agreed with the city council.”

Spar, Duff said, has opened several shops without securing planning permission for their facades first.

“Over the past year a significant proportion of their stores in the city centre have been fitted with an internally illuminated protruding plastic box fascia. These boxes have a cheap downmarket appearance and fly in the face of basic shopfront design principles,” he said.

Spar claims that it has a strong tradition of working closely with local authorities in all large European cities and is happy with its relationship with Dublin city council. “Spar takes it responsibilities in relation to planning very seriously,” it said.

“We are in continuous dialogue with the city council through our architects in relation to store frontage and signage.”

Centra claims that although its stores are individually owned by independent retailers, “store fronts have to conform to an agreed brand identity and quality standard as well as conforming to the planning requirements of the relevant local authority”.

Duff cites a Spar on Mayor Street and a Centra on Capel Street as two models of restraint in shopfront design. “Both of those stores have discreet, simple designs, but these constitute a minority,” he said.

Times Recommends

• Rio Tinto four held as China prepares case
• Diplomats must keep heads down and trousers up
• When in Rome should one make like Berlusconi?