Lidl are holding a consultation in the Community Centre tomorrow Friday 26th 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. where they will display their plans for the proposed store at Balmakeith on the site beside Sainsbury's.
In 2009 many Nairnites rallied behind River Community Council's call to support the Sainsbury's application. The subsequent public inquiry ruled in favour of the Sainsbury's application and then of course came the traffic lights. That aside it does seem likely to this observer that many local people will back Lidl too in the same way they rallied round the Sainsbury's application.
Many of the arguments that were deployed then will no doubt surface again from those that wish to see more shopping choice in Nairn. Jobs would be created, Nairn shoppers that travel to Forres or Inverness to shop at Lidl would only have to go the shorter distance to Balmakeith - less vehicle emissions, cars on the road etc.
On the down side there are fears again for existing businesses on the High Street especially in view of concerns that non-food stores might accompany Lidl into a new development. The consultation is the precursor to a full planning application being submitted to Highland Council and there will be opportunities to comment on that when it appears too. In the meantime it will be worthwhile going over tomorrow and having a look at what is proposed. At the end of the day will it all come down to a numbers game again though as in template for public support expressed for Sainsbury's in 2009?
5 comments:
So Lidl are holding a consultation for just one day, I bet there will be complaints about that
Will they have free nibbles like Sainsbury's did?
Talking of which I bet it'll be Sainsbury's who object to their application as the greatest loss of business through the new Lidl store will be themselves, not the High St
Personally I would have preferred to see Lidl in Nairn rather than Sainsbury's but now we'll have a choice and it'll save me making trips to Forres
Will Lidl have to fork out money for new traffic lights, there's still a few junctions not covered
High Street is already the domain of charity shops, only the takeaways seem to flourish. Co-ops remain popular with folk that don't want the journey to the Balmakeith, and West Enders will be happy as the cheap store is away from them
Can't wait for it to open
anyone started the "Nairn needs a lidl store" facebook page yet?
Good for Lidl, It is reassuring to see that companies feel able to invest in Nairn and give job oppertunities.
No doubt there will be winners and losers, however thats how the market place is.
I can see Lidl in Forres will lose out as well as Sainsbury's and the Co-ops in Nairn as there's only so much food we can eat/buy
Some shops are already up for sale
I wonder if this might see the closure of the High St Co-op, don't understand how it keeps it's customers when the King St one is just yards away, bigger stock and cheaper
Understand that the High Street Co-op is in line for a big revamp anon - part of that has appeared in the Highland Council e-planning pages.
It is worth remembering perhaps that businesses can be up for sale for a myriad of reasons - sometimes folk just want to get rid of a going concern and retire or try something else for example.
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