Supermarket giant's plan for disused Derg PSNI station

SUPERMARKET giants Lidl have confirmed plans to open a new base in Castlederg as part of a wider £31m expansion in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area.

During a business breakfast hosted in the Guildhall last week, the German retailer announced plans for three new stores and more than 100 retail jobs as part of a five-year investment programme.

Lidl, which currently operates 44 stores across Northern Ireland, said two of the planned outlets would be in the Waterside and Creggan areas of the city, with a third proposed for Castlederg.

Regional managing director, Gordon Cruikshanks, said it the company is currently "looking at sites" in the Co Tyrone town's site, but's widely understood the deveopment will be built on the grounds of the former PSNI Station.

"We are not going to be lodging any planning immediately as we are still in negotiations and reviewing various sites – that could be a number of months away," he told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme.

"We are hoping to progress both the Creggan site and Castlederg site in the near future.

"We would like that to be in the next 12 months."

Mr Cruikshanks said the investment reaffirms the company's long-term commitment to the Derry City and Strabane district.

He added that progresses ultimately depends on planning.

"Our ability to realise the important impact of this major investment - from local job creation to the wider significant social and economic benefit it will bring for local people and communities - is entirely contingent on the planning system," he said.

“We understand the complexities of the planning system at both a central and local government level in Northern Ireland and welcome ongoing efforts to address these through the Planning Improvement Programme.

"However, the pace at which these improvements are being made, and the resultant impact on our business and our customers in the meantime, is of serious concern for Lidl Northern Ireland and our wider global business.”

The former police station on Castlefin was decommissioned in 2014, and had been listed on the Lisney Estate Agents' site with an asking price of "around £375,000".

It is now listed as 'sale agreed'.

West Tyrone Sinn Féin MLA., Maolíosa McHugh, says the Lidl announcement is further positive news in the town's regeneration story.

"Sinn Féin long campaigned for the closure and demilitarisation of the PSNI Station and for this prime town centre location to be freed up to assist in the regeneration of the town and wider hinterland," he said.

"The announcement by Lidl that it plans to locate one of three new stores on the site, as part of a £31m investment in the Council area, is a great news story.

"The investment will visually transform what has been a blot on the town’s landscape for decades.

"Furthermore, the reality is that many people from the Castlederg area currently travel to Strabane, Omagh and Ballybofey to shop in Lidl.

"This new Lidl store will result in more people opting to stay local thus boosting the local economy and local jobs."

Also welcoming the news, Derg-based councillor and Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Ruairí McHugh, said: "This positive announcement comes on the back of other unprecedented investments to regenerate the town.

"The £6.5m Derg Active Programme of investment has already seen the delivery of substantial town centre public realm improvements, the Derg Castle play park and pathway lighting and greenway provision at Darragh Park.

"The £3m redevelopment of Mitchell Park is also well underway. It includes the provision of a multi-sports, synthetic 3G pitch with floodlighting, fenced enclosure to pitch boundary, ball stop nets, hardstanding spectator area, new coaching room adjacent to existing pavilion, additional equipment storage and development of a new community trim trail with items of outdoor exercise equipment.

"These developments, combined with the Lidl announcement, represent a major step forward in the regeneration of Castlederg.

"I, along my party colleagues, will continue to work to build on the progress that has been made."