Store to fight NI court ruling

John Lewis, the department store group, has pledged to persevere with its plans to open a store outside Lisburn in Co Antrim, despite being blocked by the High Court in Belfast.

The court yesterday quashed a planning application for the multi-million pound store, following a judicial review taken by a group including Belfast City Council and Lisburn Chamber of Trade and Commerce.

The project had last year been given planning permission by the then Northern Ireland environment minister, Lord Rooker, who described it as a "no-brainer" and chose not to hold a public enquiry on the matter.

It will now be up to the North's department of the environment to decide whether or not to appeal the High Court's decision.

It has long been suggested in property circles that if John Lewis could not get planning approval for Sprucefield, the company would avoid the North altogether and, possibly, locate in the Republic instead.

Gareth Thomas, director of retail operations with the company, said yesterday it remained "confident" that Sprucefield offered the only suitable location in the North that was capable of meeting the firm's needs.

"We will now work with the developers to explore every opportunity to finally realise our plans for this £40 million [ €58 million] investment," he said.

John Lewis maintains that the decision to open a 20,429sq m (220,000sq ft) store at Sprucefield followed "years of research" into the best location to attract customers from both the North and the Republic.

The development was also to include 29 smaller units.