Life can be bumpy, and what could be bumpier than having plans for an expanded department store refused at a time when other developers are winning consent for new, much larger, schemes?

This is the frustrating situation facing Dunnes Stores after Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council turned down plans to extend the store in Sandyford's 275K SF Beacon South Quarter.

An extension of the 25K SF store into adjacent units to create a 35K SF store was turned down on the basis that retail space was overprovided, and that the use was inappropriate, Fora reports.

Dunnes will probably have noticed that Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is presiding over — and in one case actually developing — a host of much larger retail schemes, The Irish Independent reports.

The list includes revamps at both Frascati Shopping Centre and Blackrock Shopping Centre, with Frascati growing by 70K SF to 170K SF; Kennedy Wilson is expanding the Stillorgan Shopping Centre for a new Tesco supermarket; and Hines plans for Cherrywood include 345K SF of retail.

At Bride's Glen, DLR Properties, which is controlled by the county council, has a site ready for 140K SF of retail in a larger office-led development.