Iceland could abandon plan for new £3bn store
SUPERMARKET giant Iceland said plans for a new store in Port Talbot, creating 30 new jobs, might have to be abandoned due to what is said were delays in the planning process.
Iceland submitted a planning application for a 15,000 sq ft The Food Warehouse store - its last retail format launched in 2015 - earlier this year. It said the planned £3m investment would not affect its existing Iceland stores in the centres of Neath and Port Talbot, which would remain trading.
Iceland, which has its headquarters in Flintshire and is the biggest company in Wales on turnover, said its planning application was originally scheduled for determination by the end of July.
It said if approved this would have allowed construction work by a local building contractor to begin more than a month ago. The aim was to unveil the new store next March.
It said Neath Port Talbot Council has now requested an extension of time to consider the application, adding that it is increasingly concerned that it will be unable to proceed with the project.
However, the council said it had to commission independent advice on the planned store application after concerns regarding its compliance with both national and local planning policy.
It added with that assessment now completed it is in process of sharing that advice with Iceland, with a view to progressing the planning application.
Iceland’s acquisitions director, Simon Anderson, said: “The council’s delay in approving our application in Baglan seems to be rooted in their ownership of an alternative site in Port Talbot called Burrows Yard. This would be completely unsuitable for The Food Warehouse as a location.
“Some local concerns have also been raised that the opening of The Food Warehouse in Baglan might endanger the viability of the Iceland store in Port Talbot town centre. However, we have ever increasing experience of Iceland and The Food Warehouse trading successfully in the same towns, and we are happy to repeat our assurance that there are no plans to close the existing Iceland store.”
The Food Warehouse’s managing director, Richard Walker, said: “With a turnover of nearly £3bn, Iceland is already recognised as the largest company based in Wales and we are keen to invest in the Welsh economy and increase our already significant workforce in the country.
“Our plan to make a £3m investment in Port Talbot will bring new life to empty land, provide work for a local building contractor, and create 30 good new permanent jobs for local people in a business that has now been ranked one of the Best Big Companies to Work For in the UK for 11 consecutive years.
“We very much hope that the council will see sense and approve our application at Baglan in a timely fashion that will enable us to provide work for local people and an enhanced shopping experience for the community as a whole.”
In a statement the council said: “The planning authority has commissioned independent retail advice in relation to the planning application submitted on behalf of Iceland due to concerns regarding its compliance with both national and local planning policy.
“That independent advice has now been received and we are in the process of sharing that advice with the applicant, with a view to progressing the planning application.”