Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Fresh bid by Dobbies to expand retail park
Permission was granted to build additional retail units and expand car parking at the retail centre — which is operated by Dobbies and includes both the garden store and the House of Angus outlet — in 2014.
That decision expired earlier this month.
But bosses at Dobbies — which was sold by Tesco for £217 million last year — have made clear they want to restart the expansion work at Ethiebeaton Park, Monifieth. David Clark, development manager at the firm, said: “Dobbies is fully committed to Angus Gateway.
“As we’re still currently going through the planning application process, we’ll be in a position to give further details in due course.”
Documents for the new application show the firm wants the same permission to be granted again — with an extra condition that would allow them to expand the retail park in phases instead of all at once.
A statement from architects DVA said: “Our client has recently been taken over by new owners following the sale of the business by Tesco Stores Ltd in 2016.
“As part of these changes, a new leadership team has been put in place and have commenced a full review of the Dobbies Garden Centre property portfolio.
“An initial priority identified by this review is the permission at the Monifieth site and to allow for greater flexibility i n the delivery of the proposals.”
Dobbies have said they wish to build the expanded car park before proceeding with t he rest of t he retail development.
They argue that this is in order to ensure that the construction of the latter has “minimum impact” on customer access to the retail park.
The statement continued: “The ability to deliver the car park in advance will contribute toward customer needs and enable the retail development to be delivered in the future, providing an economic boost to the area.”
The proposed application could be seen as a vote of confidence in the Angus Gateway.
The retail park was rocked earlier this year after golf equipment shop Auchterlonies revealed it was not renewing its lease after it expired last March.
Monifieth and Sidlaw councillor Craig Fotheringham previously said that the loss of the shop would be a “devastating blow” to the Angus Gateway development.
BOSSES at garden centre chain Dobbies have said they are “fully committed” to Angus Gateway retail centre and have submitted a fresh planning application to expand the site.