Fears new Tesco store will be delayed
There are fears that plans for a badly needed much larger Tesco supermarket in Aviemore have been shelved for up to three years by the retail giant.
It is understood that staff at the current store in the village centre have been informed by senior management about the latest setback for the £15 million project.
The 45,000-square-feet store proposed at Myrtlefield is three times the size of the existing supermarket, which the company itself admits is inadequate to cope with customer numbers and demand, especially at peak holiday times.
Around 150 new jobs would be created with the opening of the new store.
News of the delay has come from three different sources.
One contact, who did not wish to be named, said: “I have been told that the staff are very down about this news, and the thinking now is that there is more likely to be a refurbishment.”
He added: “That won’t help customers, as the size of the store won’t change.”
Consent for the long-delayed new supermarket was unanimously approved, subject to conditions, by the Cairngorms National Park’s planning committee in April this year.
Planning officer Andrew Tait had recommended the move, arguing that its importance to the area outweighed the loss of the rare Northern Damselfly’s pond home on the site.
However, work on the scheme was not to start until the insects were moved to another suitable pond, and that is not scheduled until next spring at the earliest, when construction was expected to start.
Several opening dates for the store have come and gone since the plan for the new store was first announced by the supermarket giant in June, 2008.
Local Lib-Dem MP Danny Alexander said yesterday (Wednesday): “I am very concerned to hear, after two years of meetings with – and assurances from – Tesco, that there is now speculation that the agreed timing may be abandoned.
“This needs to be cleared up as quickly as possible. I have been in touch with the company in a bid to clarify the situation, and I am pressing for an early answer for the people of Aviemore.”
For the full story see this week’s Strathy.
