Iceland's decision to abandon proposals from opening a third supermarket venture in Derry has been described as 'frustrating'.
The supermarket retailer revealed on Wednesday that the plans to introduce a 'The Food Warehouse' store had been scrapped due to the slow progress of their application in the planning system.
Managing director of Iceland, Richard Walker, told BBC Radio Four that the chain had decided to 'walk away' from the plan, blaming 'bureaucracy and government interference' at local planning level.
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Meanwhile, Derry City and Strabane District Council confirmed that a planning application had been submitted in February 2021 for a development at the Crescent Link site.
A spokesperson for the council said that the major application that had been submitted had been "a complex proposal".
The plans were part of a wider £5million investment plan promised by the owners of the retail park, David Samuel Properties. Those plans also included the resizing of the existing Homebase store and improvements to the car parking facilities.
It was hoped that 25 new jobs would also be created with The Food Warehouse's introduction. The store, which is operated by Iceland Foods, first opened in Northern Ireland in February 2020 at Longwood Retail Park in Newtownabbey.
in a statement to MyDerry , Iceland said that they would no longer be pursuing the store opening and refused to make any further comment.
Local councillor Brian Tierney said there are "clear issues" with the current planning system in place in Northern Ireland, adding that efforts to solve those issues had proved "repeatedly frustrated".
He said: "The SDLP group on Derry City and Strabane District Council has raised our concerns on numerous occasions in recent years.
"SDLP representatives on the Planning Committee have done everything within their power to improve the situation and have repeatedly been frustrated with the lack of progress.
"Our councillors have recently held meetings with the relevant council officials to address concerns in relation to the planning process and the way in which applications are dealt with.
“When opportunities come along that would benefit our city we will continue to work with those involved to help bring these projects to fruition for everyone’s benefit.”
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