John Lewis inquiry is re-scheduled for June

A public inquiry had been scheduled for November last year but was put on hold when it was discovered some information relating to the application had not been submitted on time.

A duplicate application was subsequently submitted, which Environment Minister Edwin Poots rushed through to the PAC, with the instructions that it was to be dealt with as a matter of priority.

This week the PAC revealed a new date had been set for the start of the public inquiry. It will begin on June 7 at 10am in PAC headquarters, Park House in Belfast.

Welcoming the announcement, Mr Ewart said: "Lisburn City Council is pleased with the recent announcement that the public inquiry in relation to the planning application for major retail development by Westfield at Sprucefield will commence on Monday June 7.

"The Council continues to support this planning application, which would, if successful, create thousands of new jobs, across both the beleaguered construction industry and the retail sector and bring with it an estimated 150 million in inward investment to Northern Ireland.

"Given the regional significance of Sprucefield, both as a key location along the North South and East West Transport Corridors and the potential scale of investment this would bring to Northern Ireland, the Council is hopeful of a positive outcome to the planning process and would call for a prompt decision by the Planning Service once the outcome of the inquiry is available," concluded Mr Ewart.

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