The Twin-Towns 'TESCO SUPERSTORE' fiasco ?.

Paddy20

Donegal County Council granted permission for Tesco to open a bably needed superstore in Ballybofey, yet appeals objecting to this development were lodged with An Bord Pleanala, who found in favour of the objectors.

Personally, I believe that Tesco's will purchase another site locally and open eventually, as will Aldi and Lidl along with Super-Valu.

So, I would just like to make it clear to those 'behind' the objections. That IMHO they are misguided, and protectionist in a manner that will cost them dearly in the end.

Anyone else agree with me ?..:( . Or do you belive that what is apparently going on 'behind the scenes' is any longer acceptable, in the best interest of our citizens or consumers :eek:

P. :cool:

icom

I agree totally.

It's a total disgrace, I will continue to shop in Letterkenny and hope that Tesco purchase an alternative site in Ballybofey, so that I can save on my petrol bill.
Ah ! but I will still have to go to Letterkenny to buy petrol as the prices in Ballybofey are sky high compared with the rest of the county!! But that is for another thread I suppose...:)

smashey

I agree with you Paddy20. Many developments in this county have been stopped due to objectors with interests.

"Turkeys not voting for Christmas" springs to mind.

I read the objection on the council's website. Ooh ooh, dem big bad supermarkets are going to sell petrol cheaper than us. Please Mr. B. Pleanala, don't let them build that big building in our back garden.

muffler

Isn't it great to hear a local councillor on Highland radio welcomimg An Bord Pleanala's decision to refuse permission to Tesco and then turn round and say it is disappointing that they are not coming town.

She should have stayed in bed

smashey

muffler wrote:

Isn't it great to hear a local councillor on Highland radio welcomimg An Bord Pleanala's decision to refuse permission to Tesco and then turn round and say it is disappointing that they are not coming town.

She should have stayed in bed

Strange that this councillor owns a supermarket in Stranorlar. I would never have guessed that. :rolleyes:

Paddy20

muffler wrote:

Isn't it great to hear a local councillor on Highland radio welcomimg An Bord Pleanala's decision to refuse permission to Tesco and then turn round and say it is disappointing that they are not coming town.

She should have stayed in bed

muffler,

Did you hear her stating:- "That Super-Valu have already started building a new superstore in the Twin-Towns" ?... on the Shaun Doherty show ??.. Any idea where

P. :cool:

muffler

Paddy20 wrote:

muffler,

Did you hear her stating:- "That Super-Valu have already started building a new superstore in the Twin-Towns" ?... on the Shaun Doherty show ??.. Any idea where

P. :cool:

I certainly did hear that. But if Ian Paisley said he was a big fan of the Popes would you believe him.

She didnt know if it was good or bad for the twin towns that Tesco were refused permission so I wouldnt expect her to know if a shop is being built or not.

For what its worth I haven't heard anything about supervalue other than they were interested in a piece of land up the Donegal Road, near Campbells Joinery but that was a couple of years ago.

byte

I notice boards.ie got into the Letterkenny Post last week with some posts here being mentioned in it. The article was about the rejection of Tesco in Twin Towns. I must get a scan of the page in question and post it up.

muffler

byte wrote:

I notice boards.ie got into the Letterkenny Post last week with some posts here being mentioned in it. The article was about the rejection of Tesco in Twin Towns. I must get a scan of the page in question and post it up.

Good man. It would be nice to see what posts were included.

I had the paper myself but never read it and binned it just a couple of days ago.

Paddy20

byte wrote:

I notice boards.ie got into the Letterkenny Post last week with some posts here being mentioned in it. The article was about the rejection of Tesco in Twin Towns. I must get a scan of the page in question and post it up.

Well spotted byte,,

I hope you can scan it up. It would be interesting to see 'The Letterkeny Post' comments on ths, as the last time I spoke to them the journalist I spoke to`gave me the impression that they only wanted 'exclusives' ..

That I regarded as a somewhat arrogant remark by him, considering the fact that they have not as yet established a credible track record and and are still a freebie.

As a result they have not received any new's from ' The Twin- Towns Enterprise Development Agency(t.t.E.D.A) ,which I personally founded over 16 years ago or The Citizens Advice Bureaux,that forms part of the same voluntary organisation.

P. :cool:

muffler

Paddy20 wrote:

muffler,

Did you hear her stating:- "That Super-Valu have already started building a new superstore in the Twin-Towns" ?... on the Shaun Doherty show ??.. Any idea where

P. :cool:

I know I posted earlier about this but I had forgotten about the development until someone mentioned it to me earlier today.

Brendan Dunnion is constructing a large shopping plaza of some sort just a couple of hundred metres out the Trusk/Sessiaghoneill road and I believe Supervalue will be the anchor tenants

Paddy20

muffler wrote:

I know I posted earlier about this but I had forgotten about the development until someone mentioned it to me earlier today.

Brendan Dunnion is constructing a large shopping plaza of some sort just a couple of hundred metres out the Trusk/Sessiaghoneill road and I believe Supervalue will be the anchor tenants

Good on ya muffler,

That is News, not often I throw a compliment your way .

P. :cool:

byte

Right, here is the article from the Letterkenny Post that I mentioned last week. I had to take a photo as I don't have a scanner rigged up at the moment

Linky

md23040

muffler wrote: »

Brendan Dunnion is constructing a large shopping plaza of some sort just a couple of hundred metres out the Trusk/Sessiaghoneill road and I believe Supervalue will be the anchor tenants

http://www.nwipp-newspapers.com/dn/free/302068737625490.php

And so the saga continues. Tesco has reapplied for planning permission below TSA without a petrol station attached.

With a large convenience store in Stranorlar not setting the world on fire and Supervalue agressively pricing to stop the Asda-effect, traders in this market will want this like a hole in the head.

muffler

Right. Its a bit of a zombie thread but we can accommodate new posts and look back to see what others thought of the original proposals.

I'll move this to the Donegal forum.

irish1967

Dear God... I didn't read the date of the first post and when I saw the OP I was like Wow. Blast from the past.

md23040

Personally speaking Tesco shouldn’t be allowed in now. There’s quite a bit of food retail in the town and the pie is not big enough. What’s the point of letting another player into the market to repatriate monies out of the market, when it will probably put other viable businesses into jeopardy.

IMHO the Supervalue in the town is excellent both in price and services, all the staff seem really friendly and it would be a disservice to see it under threat.

In Germany and many other EU jurisdictions, there is no way this would get approval, considering the nearby cross border effect combined with the amount of food floor space already in existence for a small enough catchment area.

Edit addon. Btw the Centra and Cost Cutters seem equally good in presentation and are appealing in price too.

byte

On the flipside, it'd bring more competition, might stop shoppers driving on through the twin towns due to added supermarket variety, and dare I say it, bring a few jobs to the community.

muffler

Just to advise anyone looking at this thread for the first time - the thread was started in September 2006 when Tesco had been granted permission for a new store in Ballybofey but were subsequently refused by An Bord Pleanala. As they have now made another planning application for the same site it is only logical to continue on with the same thread as it gives people the opportunity to see what was posted in reaction to to the original planning refusal.

changes

I'd rather see aldi or lidl than tesco to be honest. The general area could do with one of them

Essexboy

Going off thread but what the Twin Towns really need is a bypass!

I drive through them every week and it is a penance!

Ronan Keating

Essexboy wrote: »

Going off thread but what the Twin Towns really need is a bypass!

I drive through them every week and it is a penance!

I agree. It was meant to go ahead but some eejits appealed it because it was going through their land.

I doubt Tesco will open in Ballybofey. Too near Letterkenny. The Ballybofey people more likely shop and work in Letterkenny. It's like a suburb of Letterkenny.

muffler

Essexboy wrote: »

Going off thread but what the Twin Towns really need is a bypass!

I drive through them every week and it is a penance!

Ronan Keating wrote: »

I agree. It was meant to go ahead but some eejits appealed it because it was going through their land.

There's a thread here lads on that topic if you wish to post in it.

Essexboy

muffler wrote: »

There's a thread here lads on that topic if you wish to post in it.

Thanks.
Tesco's application has been rejected as invalid by Donegal County Council in a letter dated 1 March.
The contours/levels were not indicated, whatever that means in English.

muffler

Essexboy wrote: »

Thanks.
Tesco's application has been rejected as invalid by Donegal County Council in a letter dated 1 March.
The contours/levels were not indicated, whatever that means in English.

They have since made a new application which has been validated

Jay Walker

Does anyone know if the new application includes petrol pumps?

smashey

Jay Walker wrote: »

Does anyone know if the new application includes petrol pumps?

Not according to that application posted by muffler...

[FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]CONSTRUCTION OF A FOODSTORE, ASSOCIATED CARPARKING, VEHICULAR ACCESS AND ALL ASSOCIATED SITE DEVELOPMENT WORKS[/FONT]

Petrol pumps would have to be mentioned specifically.

Jay Walker

smashey wrote: »

Not according to that application posted by muffler...



Petrol pumps would have to be mentioned specifically.

So, could it be a case that Tesco might get their application granted if they forget about the petrol pumps? Something smells fishy....

smashey

Jay Walker wrote: »

So, could it be a case that Tesco might get their application granted if they forget about the petrol pumps? Something smells fishy....

There is no mention of petrol pumps so the application so if permission is granted then it would be for whatever is applied for only.

Ammonite

I think Tesco should have been allowed into the Twin Towns years ago but given that at this stage there is barely enough business for all the supermarkets in the town without Tesco coming in, I'm not sure they should get the go ahead. But then if Tesco were allowed in, jobs would be created and it might draw more people into the town.

I hear Aldi are interested in acquiring a site on the Donegal road. They would do well in the town but surely that would break the camel's back for a few of the local shops.

changes

Ammonite wrote: »

I hear Aldi are interested in acquiring a site on the Donegal road. They would do well in the town but surely that would break the camel's back for a few of the local shops.

I think an aldi or lidl would suit the town far better. Tesco won't be that different to super valu imo.