Work at Tesco in Crumlin could begin 'within weeks'
Thursday, 30 October 2008
ANTRIM Borough Council has confirmed that Tesco's newest Ulster superstore could be rising from the rubble 'within weeks' after the application was finally given the thumbs up by the Planners.
It was an open secret that the high street giant had 'jumped through hoops' to satisfy County Hall, but while an approval was always on the cards a Tesco delegation looked visibly relieved when the Council 'stroked the Ts and dotted the Is' last Thursday afternoon.
After two year of deliberations, the final hurdle was finally crossed despite some hostile exchanges between councillors and representatives from the Northern Ireland Independent Retail Trade Association.
Despite the controversy that has dogged the application, a Planning spokesman confirmed that they had only received six letters of objection. There was also a petition, understood to have contained around 1,000 names.
By contrast, there were two letters of support, both of which came from the Council - one dating back to April and the other on the eve of the Planning Office decision last month.
Perhaps proving the Tesco slogan that 'every little helps', County Hall agreed with the Civic Centre that the potential benefits outweighed long-standing concerns.
A spokesman confirmed that problems regarding vehicular access to the site had now been addressed to the satisfaction of Roads Service.
Similarly, concerns about noise and the visual impact had been considered with a pledge to landscape the site to the east of the Community Centre.
The Planners also finally ended the debate about whether the store was in the town centre or the edge of it. They confirmed that while the car park was outside the town boundary, the store was not - and that distinction was important, because a town centre store does not require the time-consuming preparation of an Economic Impact Assessment.
With the Council already committed to supporting the application after their show of hands in September the vote was something of a formality - and all, with the exception of arch-critic, DUP councillor John Smyth, voting in favour.
