Shopping centre battle rages

While the battle of the shopping complexes is raging in Belfast city centre, the skirmishes at the outskirts are no less fierce, as two major retail developments in the east of the city are engaged in a High Court battle over their respective planning permissions.

Last month, the High Court in Belfast overturned a decision by the North's Department of the Environment (DoE) to grant planning permission for a development at the Belfast Harbour Exchange near Tillysburn.

The ruling came as a major victory for Belfast City Council and the Chamber of Trade which had challenged the DoE decision on the grounds that a new retail development at the site would seriously damage businesses in the Holywood, Connswater and Dundonald areas of east Belfast.

In his judgment, Mr Justice Kerr ruled that the planning application sought by Aquis Estates, Anglia & General and Sainsbury's had failed in several key respects and that the Environment Minister, Lord Dubs, did "not have the full facts" when he granted planning permission for the £65 million sterling complex.

Last week the developers of the site hit back when they successfully challenged in court a planning permission given to a nearby Tesco superstore at Knocknagoney. A date for the judicial review has not yet been set but a resolution of the issue seems all the more urgent as Tesco had planned to open the store in October.

Should the judicial review conclude that planning permission to Tesco should be withdrawn, this could lead to a demolition of the almost completed multi-million pound superstore. In that case, Tesco is likely to lodge a massive compensation claim.

A spokesman for Anglia & General denied last week that their challenge to Tesco was a case of "sour grapes". He insisted his company just wanted to make sure that both projects received equal treatment.

According to the spokesman, the two schemes had so far proceeded in tandem and were enjoined in the public inquiry. "If there was an error in our planning consent, then we want to know if there was a similar error when it came to approving the Knocknagoney development," he added.

Analysts, however, are smirking at Anglia's reasoning. The chief executive of the Belfast Chamber of Trade, Mr Frank Caddy, said he found the legal challenge "surprising, strange and somewhat petty".

Mr Caddy, who is known as a vigorous supporter of innercity development as opposed to out-of-town mega malls, said the proposed Tesco store was one out-of-town project the Chamber had actually supported.

"Tesco itself has three stores in Holywood, Connswater and Belmont, the areas most affected by its new superstore. If they think all four are viable within a relatively small area, then they have obviously thought it through," Mr Caddy added.

He said that since the first ceasefire in 1994, the DoE had received planning applications for 4.5 million square feet of out-of-town shopping developments compared with applications for 1.5 million square feet for inner-city retail outlets.

According to the Chamber of Trade's chief executive, out-of-town malls are a 1960s phenomenon and evidence of a "complete lack of social conscience". Referring to the 1996 British Retail Planning Forum Study, Mr Caddy claims that the creation of 93 superstores in England, Wales and Scotland led to a net loss of 25,000 jobs.

"Contrary to developers' claims they are creating hundreds of jobs in these out-of-town developments, all that occurs is a `job displacement', not to mention the life-blood which is drained out of our city centres," he added.

No matter who wins the battle of the shopping complexes, both in and out of town, the real winners should be Belfast shoppers who will be able to benefit from the greater choice of stores in the coming years.