No start date has yet been given on when work is due to begin on the new retail park on the grounds of the former Unipork site in Enniskillen.
Developers Elm Grange were given the green light to progress with the Lakelands Retail and Leisure Park on the Cornagrade Road after the Department for Infrastructure withdrew a ‘holding direction’ in place on the project in March.
The retail park, which would include shops, a hotel, cinema and restaurants, had been held up after the Department said it would conduct a review into the planning application following a narrow vote to approve in the local council’s planning committee.
Read more: New retail park on former Unipork factory site in Enniskillen given go ahead
In a letter issued to Fermanagh and Omagh District Council on 28 March, DfI confirmed the holding direction was ‘no longer in place and the council can continue to process this application accordingly’.
However, work is yet to begin on the site and the developers have yet to provide a date for when work will begin on the site.
Just two tenants have been confirmed for the retail park so far, while the price of materials has increased significantly since the plans were first proposed.
Although the company named on the planning application is known as Elm Grange, the firm is owned by Co Tyrone based construction firm Roxborough Plant and Constructions Ltd.
After several requests for comment from Elm Grange and Roxborough from Belfast Live, the company released the following statement via its social media pages on Thursday:
"Whilst we realise we’ve been publicly quiet (no news is good news) please rest assured we are working every hour on the clock on Lakeland’s Retail & Leisure Park," the statement said.
"Our dedicated team is working on Building Control Applications, Water & Drainage designs, Electric & Lighting Designs, Tenancy Agreements - the list goes on.
"As you can appreciate it was a long road to get this far and we want to maximise the potential of the project to the fullest.
"As soon as humanly possible, we will be on site & raring to go. As always thanks for the amazing support.
The park's developers have said it will bring hundreds of jobs into Co Fermanagh and generate millions for the local economy.
The Range and Brunswick Movie Bowl are among the tenants which the developers say have already been secured at the retail park.
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