Asda withdraw plans for new store in Crescent Link area of Derry

By Alan Healy

The supermarket giant ASDA has withdrawn its plans for a store in the Crescent Link area of the city, the Derry News can reveal today.

The news brings to an end years of speculation as to whether the store would open a new outlet in the Waterside after it received planning permission in December 2012.

At the time, the ASDA application was one of five major competing retail schemes within the city.

In December 2012, the then Environment Minister Alex Attwood announced that the ASDA application proposal was the only one to be granted planning approval.

Planning permission was refused for four other applications, including a major development at Drumahoe and a new Tesco store on the Buncrana Road.

At the time, Mr Attwood said that he has issued the approval on the grounds that a new ASDA store would not damage existing retail centres and city centre traders.

"Trade that leaves Derry and goes to Strabane and even Coleraine to shop in ASDA will return in my view to Derry and therefore will create jobs and retail spend in Derry,” he said.

“Indeed in my view it will bring people not just from Derry, but from the north west, from Donegal, into the city in order to shop and to trade.

“I think this will be a win-win for Derry."

ASDA also launched a website where it unveiled images of how the new store on the Crescent Link,  adjacent to Homebase, would look.

However, there was no movement from ASDA on the Crescent Link site in the years following the announcement that planning permission was granted.

That in turn led to speculation that ASDA was seeking to instead open up a new store on the west bank of the city, with the supermarket giant linked to proposed new developments such as the plans for the vacant Arntz site, and a planned redevelopment of the Northside Shopping Centre.

More recently, ASDA was also link to the proposed ‘North West One’ project on the Crescent Link, which is short distance away from the site it received planning permission for in 2012.

In November of last year, ASDA issued a statement where it said that it had considered the site.

However, planning permission was refused for the development.

ASDA has now issued a statement to the Derry News clarifying its position on the Crescent Link store, where it revealed that it will no longer be going ahead with the plans.

Commenting, Alan Jones, Senior Communications Manager at Asda, said that it had withdrawn the Crescent Link plans in 2013, not long after approval was issued, as the site was ‘no longer viable’.

“ASDA withdrew its plans for a new store at the Crescent Link Retail Park in 2013 as the site was no longer viable,” Mr Jones said.

“While the retail market continues to face one of its most challenging periods ever, ASDA remains committed to Derry/Londonderry, and will consider all new opportunities where they reflect our ongoing strategy.”