Plans for drone food delivery hub at new Priory Market
PARTAS are seeking planning permission for a drone food delivery hub in Tallaght.
If approved, deliveries will be operated by Bobby Healy’s Manna Drones Delivery, from the Partas centre at Tallaght Enterprise Centre, Main Road.
Healy announced a few months ago that his company, which has been operating out of Blanchardstown, wants to have between 10 and 15 bases opened along the M50 corridor in Dublin.
In February 2024, Partas were granted planning permission by South Dublin County Council for a food and beverage hub at the site, to be called Priory Market.
This includes an open plan market area comprising vendor stalls, seating and tables.
Social enterprise group Partas operate four enterprise centres in Tallaght, including the Main Road site which is located to the rear of the Bryan S Ryan site, and adjacent to Lidl Ireland HQ.
Plans for the “aerial delivery hub” were submitted to the council before Christmas.
According to planning documents, the aerial hub will “improve food delivery services in an efficient manner” and not add to traffic congestion.
The proposed approach in utilising a new ‘emerging technology’ is anticipated to yield savings by improving efficiency and reducing the reliance on expensive last-minute logistics to move products between locations, according to Partas.
A planning statement by Downey, Chartered Town Planners on behalf of Partas, contains a report that “sets out the planning rationale and justification for the proposed development”, including an assessment of the application site with regard to the South Dublin County Development Plan 2022-2028.
“Our client wishes to avail of a drone delivery service from this location, enabling benefits such as faster deliveries, cost reduction and lessening of environmental impact,” said the report.
According to the report, Manna Drones Delivery are authorised to operate within Irish and European airspace under a Light UAS Operator Certificate (LUC) issued by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA).
“Drone delivery holds the promise of revolutionising logistics by offering faster, more efficient, and sustainable delivery solutions in the years to come and so our client is seeking to enhance their food court by providing this much advantageous service.
“While drone delivery services are not currently considered within defined uses under current planning legislation, the provision of an aerial delivery hub is considered acceptable as such would be considered an ancillary use to the operation of the enterprise centre recently permitted by South Dublin County Council and would be in keeping with the zoning objective presiding over the area.”
Manna has outperformed Amazon in Ireland who have been trialling their own drone delivery service but others such as Google’s Wings are serious rivals.
A human ‘pilot’ monitors as many as 20 deliveries from the base at the same time with drones that can reach 60kmh at a height of 50 to 65metres.
Manna has been doing about 400 to 500 deliveries a day over the week with coffee their number one delivery item.
SDCC are due to make a decision on the aerial hub delivery proposal by February 26, 2025.