Another delay for new £15M Tesco store in Aviemore

Plans for a new £15 million-plus Tesco store in Aviemore, expected to create 150 jobs, have been hit by further delay.

The retail giant has contacted the Cairngorms National Park Authority to say they will not be ready for the committee meeting to hear their application for the supermarket on February 3.

The date had been agreed for several months to determine the application for the long-awaited store at Myrtlefield.

The CNPA’s head planner, Don McKee, said: "At our meeting with Tesco in November, they agreed they could send us the information needed to determine the application in a matter of weeks and that they would be ready for a decision to be taken in February.

"We have been told some information is still being collated and would not be with us in time for February’s meeting, which is disappointing for us and I’m sure many others.

"We are very aware of the need for a larger supermarket in Aviemore, and there has been outline planning permission for one since 2008.

"For the same reason, we have done everything we can to help the development of a new facility progress as quickly as possible.

"We have been reassured by Tesco they are working as fast as they can to bring this forward.

"The CNPA has not reached a view yet on the new supermarket, and will not until we can consider all relevant matters."

No new date has been set for the planning application to be heard.

A spokesperson for Tesco commented: "We are working closely with the Cairngorms National Park Authority to prepare our application for consideration by the planning committee.

"We are currently finalising the relevant information required to support our proposals, and anticipate that we will be heard by the committee in the near future.

"We share the community’s enthusiasm to see our development moving forward as soon as possible, and look forward to providing more value and choice locally."

The retail giant had said last year it hoped to open the new 45,000 square feet store – which will be three times larger than the current supermarket – around this November.

The store is badly needed as the Tesco outlet in the village centre is too small to cope at peak holiday times.

Bill Lobban, vice-chairman of Aviemore Community Council, said: "I am disappointed, like most people in the area, to hear of a further delay to the construction of this desperately needed new store.

"We can only hope that any outstanding issues will be urgently solved, and trust that this latest delay has been caused by lack of completed information, as the CNPA states, and not due to a change of heart by Tesco."

Outline planning permission for the much larger new supermarket at Myrtlefield has existed since 2008.

But in June last year, Tesco chose to submit a completely new application, with the store in a different position on the site, effectively putting aside the outline permission which was granted in 2008.

The firm wants to in-fill a lochan on the site, which is home to the rare Northern Damselfly, to create car parking and so the store can have a conventional outlook.

The latest proposals for the planned store were criticised by a leading Scottish body of architects – Architecture+Design Scotland – last autumn.

They said that they remain "unconvinced" that the supermarket giant’s preferred plan is the best solution for Aviemore.

The CNPA has said that a whole range of issues – including design, traffic flow, flood risk, pedestrian and disabled access, cycle provision and the natural heritage – need to be considered in any granting of planning permission.

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