Tesco outlines £40m Lisnagelvin plans

The retail giant says customers have the opportunity to visit the stand in order to find out more about plans for the Centre, fill in a comment card with their views, positive or negative, and, if they wish, sign the petition in support of the plans, which still remain with Planning Service.

Shane Murphy, property manager for Tesco in Northern Ireland, said: "We would like to hear the views of people who use the Centre and show them our rebuild plans which will double the size of the Tesco store and enlarge the Centre itself.

"Lisnagelvin Shopping Centre is more than thirty years old and, particularly as it is at the gateway to Derry~Londonderry, we would like to bring it up to date. We have a planning application in the system to build a new, improved Centre with a larger Tesco Extra store, which would stock a wider range of goods and services. It would also have 13 additional shops and a free, covered car-park, which would provide sheltered access to the stores.

"We held a public exhibition in the Centre earlier in the year and our display panels will once again be set up for the public to see how the new Centre might look and we look forward to hearing their feedback."

A new dedicated website, www.tescolisnagelvin.com has also been set up to give information on the scheme and other areas of interest.

Mr Murphy continued: "This store would create around 200 new positions as well as hundreds of others during the construction phase, as well as generating significant rates for the Council.

"We are thoroughly committed to consultation and this petition, comment cards and our dedicated website are just some of the ways we are trying to hear what our customers think. Our team look forward to speaking to you at the stand and will answer any questions you may have."

Meanwhile, planners have received a transport assessment related to an application for a 40m redevelopment of Lisnagelvin District Shopping Centre in the Waterside area of Londonderry.

The assessment is related to Tesco's plans to redevelop the existing Lisnagelvin District Shopping Centre to provide a new District Shopping Centre including basement and decked car parking, landscaping and associated site and access works.

The transport submission follows an announcement by the retail giant earlier this year that approximately 200 new retail jobs on top of approximately 300 construction jobs will be generated by the project.