Aldi launch fresh bid for new Limerick store after planning approval quashed by High Court

Planning approval for a new Aldi store in Moyross was overruled by the High Court in October last year

Permission for the Aldi store in Mayross, initially granted by Limerick City Council, was upheld by An Coimisiún Pleanála on appeal before being overruled by the High Court late last year

Plans for a new Aldi Supermarket in Moyross, Limerick, which were overturned by a High Court judge last year, have been resubmitted to the planning commission.

The court upheld a challenge by a neighbouring shopping centre, Watch House Cross, and one of its units, over permission granted to Aldi Stores (Ireland) Limited for a one-storey discount store and associated works at New Road, Moyross.

Permission for the Aldi store, initially granted by Limerick City Council, was upheld by An Coimisiún Pleanála on appeal.

This was despite a lengthy objection from the neighbouring district centre, Watch House Cross, which said in its appeal to Limerick City and County Council in 2022 that it had struggled to cope with a declining population since its opening in the early 2000s. It also noted the departure of two anchor tenants from the centre, which they said left due to falling expenditure amid lower footfall.

It also noted that Aldi was previously given the opportunity to locate itself in the district centre, but did not accept that offer. The unit was then taken over by food retailer Iceland, which controversially closed all its stores in Ireland in 2023.

Watch House Cross also said it had a number of vacant units in the shopping centre.

"The general Moyross area is one of deprivation both socially and economically," Watch House Cross wrote. "Income in the area primarily comes from social welfare," it said, adding that there was "not the excess expenditure available" as previously claimed by Aldi. 

"If the Aldi development is permitted, it will seriously undermine the District Centre and its role in the retail hierarchy, and will be to the detriment of the Moyross area," Watch House Cross concluded.

In October 2025, a High Court judge ruled that An Coimisiún Pleanála made a legal error in its approach to deciding whether the development materially contravened the area plan, overturning the planning approval for the new Aldi store.

Now, the case has been reactivated by the planning commission, with the grocery retailer seeking permission for the construction of a single-storey discount foodstore, including an off-license, and all associated site development works on lands at New Road/Knockalisheen Road, Ballynanty More, in Moyross.

An Coimisiún Pleanála are due to decide on the plans by May 19, 2025.