The Administrative and Fiscal Court in Loulé has dismissed the injunction lodged by four business associations that aimed to halt the IKEA development near Loulé.
The plaintiffs, the Association of Hotels and Resorts in the Algarve (AHETA), the Association of Young Entrepreneurs (ANJE/Algarve), the Traders Association of the Algarve Region (ACRAL) and the Business Association of Quarteira and Vilamoura - as well as some individuals, have decided to go to the Court of Appeal on environmental grounds.
The anti-IKEA group claims that the decision made today at the Loulé Court is "unconstitutional" and emphasised that the choice of location of the project is on land where water seeps down to underground aquifers that feed the Ria Formosa forming the main subterranean ecological corridor from the hills to the coast.
The IKEA Group has already lodged a counter-action against the individuals and associations claiming recompense for the costs caused by these delays.
The commercial development of an IKEA store and shopping centre was to open in 2014 but this has been postponed until 2015, a date that is looking increasingly optimistic.
The first legal action from the anti-IKEA group was centred on the loss of business to their members should the Swedish furniture and household goods superstore be allowed to be built - now it is going down the environmental route.
The anti-IKEA defence could be viewed as tenuous but still may cause long delays. The developers already will have submitted an environmental impact assessment which clearly was acceptable to the planning authority, in this case the local council advised by environmental agencies.
IKEA undoubtedly will have a plan B and if Loulé council is forced to witness the Swedes walking away from this project in favour of another site in another council area, it will be a significant blow to its predicted income from business rates, and to the hopes of a reduction in local unemployment levels.
