Decision on Kildare drive-thru restaurant appealed
Artist's impression of what the new building on the Cemex site will look like
PLANS to convert part of the former Naas Cemex site on the Dublin Road into a drive-thru restaurant and petrol station development are subject to a planning appeal with An Coimisiún Pleanála.
Petrogas Group Ltd, the company behind the planning application, is seeking permission for a change of use of a previously approved drive-thru café building to a drive-thru restaurant at the prominent former Cemex lands on the edge of Naas.
The plans stated there would be no alterations to the external appearance of the approved building apart from revised signage on the western elevation, while drainage, parking, lighting, landscaping and waste storage arrangements would remain unchanged.
The wider redevelopment of the former industrial site already includes plans for a petrol station and associated roadside services.
Kildare County Council had refused permission for the proposed change of use.
In its decision, the council said the overall development already included drive-thru restaurant and takeaway facilities and argued that permitting an additional fast-food drive-thru would lead to an overconcentration of such uses at the location.
It also raised concerns that the development would generate extra car-based trips onto the national road network beyond those originally envisaged under the wider permitted scheme. The refusal cited potential impacts on traffic safety and the obstruction of road users.
The council further argued that a stand-alone drive-thru fast-food outlet at a gateway location to Naas would attract customers from a wider catchment area and could negatively affect surrounding town and village centres, particularly Naas town centre.
The refusal stated the proposal conflicted with policies contained in the Naas Local Area Plan 2021–2027 and the Kildare County Development Plan 2023–2029, including “Town Centre First” objectives aimed at concentrating retail, food and leisure activity within established urban centres rather than car-dependent out-of-town locations.
Planners also said the proposal would run counter to national sustainable mobility policy by encouraging additional car travel rather than walking, cycling and public transport use.
Petrogas Group Ltd has now appealed the refusal to An Coimisiún Pleanála.
In the appeal, the applicant holds that the council’s refusal does not hold up to “scrutiny”, and included that the Council Transportation Department did not object to the development, supporting the view of the expert traffic consultant submitted with the appeal.
The document shows that all associated council departments were not in objection to the site being granted planning permission.
The appeal states: “we respectfully submit that in this context the view of the planning authority as expressed above is not based on any firm evidence.” In relation to the drive-thru attracting additional car traffic and the negative impact that might have on Naas Town Centre, the appeal notes that local traffic is likely to be “very small in the overall scheme”.
It also submitted that Naas town centre has a “robust” food sector with a total of 27 fast food and take away outlets, noting the McDonald’s drive-thru not far from the proposed site, as well as a Burger King located at Applegreen on the Millenium Road in Naas – which is not a drive-thru, but a similar fast food restaurant.
“The proposed development would result in three drive-thru restaurants (including the permitted drive thru in the parent application) at the edge of a town of over 26,000 people and we respectfully submit that this cannot reasonably considered to be an over provision – particularly when the two drive-thru restaurants at the former Cemex site are aimed to facilitate passing motorists.”
The appeal argues that the council’s argument only makes sense for a town which is suffering from “widespread vacancy”.
“This is not the case in this instance. Naas town centre has low vacancy – apart from the shopping centre, which is a unique case in its own right and relates more to retail than the food sector.”
According to the “expert traffic information” submitted with the appeal, the applicant said that traffic generation “over and above that of the permitted drive-thru café is immaterial.”
The appeal was formally lodged in May, and the case is provisionally due to be decided by 22 September 2026.
