A new Lidl supermarket which is at the heart of plans to regenerate Alexandria is a short term solution that doesn’t work for residents, a community group has warned.
The Vale of Leven Trust wrote to councillors prior to a meeting on August 17, where proposals for the store were given the green light.
However, the chair of the committee deciding on the development said he hadn’t read the concerns prior to the meeting, because the letter was issued too late, with no members of the committee raising the Trust’s fears.
Chair, Councillor David McBride, said that further delays to the long-running proposals “were not an option.”
Members of West Dunbartonshire Council’s infrastructure, redevelopment and economic development (IRED) committee formally agreed to demolish the remaining buildings on Mitchell Way and hand the land over to Lidl earlier this month.
A planning application was submitted to the local authority at the beginning of the year by the organisation who want to develop a new food store with more than 130 parking spaces.
The council’s planning department has since advised that a 25,000 square feet food store, with 135 parking spaces, separate customer and service access from Bank Street is the most agreeable way forward.
However Janice Ross of the Vale of Leven Trust fears the developers have been given too much freedom to dictate how the site will look, and worries for the long-term impact.
Two years ago the Trust wrote to councillors in the Leven ward suggesting that Lidl build their new store on Mitchell Way itself to drive footfall into the town centre, and called for time limits on parking to be scrapped to encourage people to shop elsewhere on the Main Street.
And in a letter sent to councillors prior to the meeting of the local authority’s IRED committee where the decision was taken, Ms Ross says the Trust are “disheartened and dismayed at the report.”
The letter continues: “By allowing this development to proceed in its preferred location you are creating an elongated town centre with housing placed right in the middle and creating a silo effect which will result in residents not traversing the town to the detriment of the small traders.
“Our argument is that the impact of both the location and the car park results in fill and go shopping.
“This is the exact opposite of encouraging shopping in the town centre so we believe the only retail outlet that will benefit is Lidl themselves.”
And with businesses in Alexandria already struggling due to the impact of long-running works on the Main Street, the Trust questioned how they would benefit from the decision.
Janice added: “I would like to see more rigorous figures on how many permanent jobs this will bring to the town centre. Our concern is that we will see a small amount of part time jobs in the Lidl development, however the ongoing impact on the rest of the traders could result in a decrease of employment elsewhere in the town.”
Chair of the IRED committee, Labour’s David McBride, admitted that he had not read the letter from the Trust before the meeting, and no member of the committee had raised it because it had been received at too short notice.
Councillor McBride said that the committee agreed with the recommendations in the report to proceed with the development, adding: “I fully supported the recommendation as further delays were not an option in the Labour administration’s opinion.
“This project has been in discussion since 2008, during that time, the Vale’s town centre has been subjected to neglect.
“Under these proposals, the long-awaited Mitchell Way demolition can get started, Lidl will be built, and the housing development opportunity will be marketed for housing.”
