Tesco Superstore To Get Underway

Hundreds of construction jobs are expected to be created following full planning approval for a new Tesco superstore.

The store will be situated in Newtownards, north Down, on the site of the old Ards Abattoir off the Portaferry Road.

The project, which includes a petrol station and parking spaces, will result in the creation of 200 retail jobs.

The new Tesco store will be almost double the size of the one currently at the Ards Shopping Centre and is expected to create the additional full and part-time positions, but will mean the closure of the store in the Ards Shopping Centre.

The new Tesco superstore is the first of three stages of the contentious £250m Castlebawn project. This mixed-use development originally secured planning approval but is now the subject of a public inquiry following objections from the wider Ards business community.

Now, a spokesman from the Planning Service has confirmed permission had indeed been granted for the Tesco superstore and also revealed the Department of the Environment had removed the supermarket's application from the contentious Castlebawn project because of the inquiry.

While many small retailers fear the impact, the Mayor of Newtownards, David Smyth, has said: "I do not believe that Tesco will do any harm to Newtownards town centre at all.

"I think you will get the service and the quality in the town for those shops who are already there.

"They give marvellous service, with high quality goods and I think that will win out every time."

Delays in the building work were feared during the past summer, but Tesco put this down to the due processes needed to get the project underway.

Edwin Poots announced his initial support for the project last winter and said it would help rejuvenate the area of the former Ards Abattoir, bringing not only a modern food and convenience goods outlet, but also much needed economic investment.

"This will provide construction jobs along with the £18m investment in the immediate future, and secure some 200 permanent retail jobs. This is another fine example what can be gained from engaging in pre-application discussions where key issues can be identified at an early stage allowing the application to pass through the statutory planning process quickly," the DUP Minister said at the time.

Speaking in August this year, Colin Hampsey, Corporate Affairs Manager for Tesco was reassuring on the reported delays and said that the supermarket group was working through "processes" before the building begins.

Meanwhile in Co Antrim, the long awaited construction of a new Tesco superstore in Glengormley's neglected Northcott Shopping Centre has yet to get underway.

Plans were approved almost a year ago for a similar development to that in Ards, but as yet no start date has been revealed.

However, Tesco staff have been told they are to be re-located after Christmas as the demolition of the aged centre is to commence.

They are be distributed around other Tesco stores, such as Carnmoney Road, or Church Road - the Tesco HQ in NI - but have been given no indication as to when they might return to Northcott - as there is no sign of work commencing on the rebuilding.

See: Castlebawn Tesco 'Not Under Threat'

See: Tesco's Northcott Plan Approved

(GK/KMcA)