Tesco faces defeat on store plans

Tesco insisted its site remained a better choice for the town

A proposed new Tesco store in southern Scotland has been recommended for refusal by planning officers.

The supermarket firm lodged plans to build a new outlet in Annan, in Dumfries and Galloway.

However, councillors were advised to reject that scheme and approve outline superstore plans being proposed nearby by a regeneration agency.

A spokesman for Tesco said it was "disappointed" and believed its site was the right one for the town.

The supermarket company wants to build on land adjacent to Stapleton Road and Scott's Street.

The Tesco and Katalyst sites are neighbouring out of centre locations, with little to chose between them Doug Wilson Tesco corporate affairs manager

Planning officers argued Tesco had not shown it properly considered sites closer to the town centre.

Instead, they recommended Dumfries and Galloway Council should come down in favour of plans by regeneration group Katalyst.

The agency was set up to help the area recover from the decommissioning of the Chapelcross nuclear plant.

Its plans would see a building demolished and new store constructed on Scott's Street.

Tesco Scottish Corporate Affairs Manager Doug Wilson said its site was the better choice.

"The Tesco and Katalyst sites are neighbouring out-of-centre locations, with little to chose between them," he said.

"If there is no operator to take a supermarket project forward, it is clear that, if approved, Annan will be left to suffer retail leakage for the foreseeable future."