A £2 million development which could create up to 35 jobs at a Dumfries retail park is set to get the green light next week.
The Food Warehouse – a sub-brand of parent company Iceland Foods – is aiming to take over two retail units at Cuckoo Bridge Retail Park in Glasgow Road.
NewRiver, which owns the retail park, has submitted a planning application for the scheme which council officials have recommended for approval.
A report due for next Wednesday’s planning committee contends that The Food Warehouse will provide more options for people in Dumfries and is not expected to negatively impact trading in the town centre.
It states: “The impact of the proposal on the vitality and viability of Dumfries, and any other centre, will be negligible, and certainly not significantly adverse.
“Most of the competition will be with other large supermarkets in non-town centre locations, such as Tesco and Aldi.
“The proposal will address deficiencies in existing provision, with The Food Warehouse store addressing a qualitative deficiency by enhancing consumer choice, which is currently lacking due to the over-representation of Tesco and Aldi in the local area.”
NewRiver has lodged the plans for the food firm to merge units previously used by Storey Carpets and Poundstretcher.
The units have a combined total of 1,164 sq m shop floor space, which bosses at The Food Warehouse is keen to merge.
The council planning papers state: “A concurrent planning application has been submitted which proposes external alterations to the units to accommodate the proposed development, essentially involving the enlargement of unit three into unit four, with the frontage of the building altered accordingly.”
