Developer ready to 'get the skates on' after winning Kirriemuir supermarket approval
An Angus developer has outlined his vision for Kirriemuir's new supermarket.
- By Graeme Bletcher
- Published in the Courier : 03.02.12
- Published online : 03.02.12 @ 05.35pm
Mark Guild, of Guild Homes (Tayside) Ltd, said it was time to ''get the skates on'' with progress on the store at Pathhead, after councillors voted on Wednesday to approve planning for the site by an overwhelming majority.
Despite widespread support from the local community and Mr Guild confirming he has interest from two national chains, the owners of a rival site at Gairie Works claimed the approval would leave the town without any supermarket.
However, Mr Guild said his plan would provide a modern store fit for the 21st century and would attract an operator of a size that could compete with Asda or Tesco, in neighbouring Forfar and Blairgowrie.
He said: ''It will provide choice to the people who currently live in Kirriemuir and are forced to shop elsewhere, choice for people who live outwith Kirriemuir and most importantly choice for people without the transport who simply can't shop outwith Kirriemuir.
''People will no longer have to travel large distances to other towns for their weekly shop. This will put money in their pockets and they will save in fuel costs — something of particular importance to the vast rural population.''
Bruce Weir, director of CWP, who are hoping to build at the Gairie Works owned by J&D Wilkie, said the council's decision to grant planning for Pathhead was likely to stop his own development from moving forward.
He added: ''CWP and J&D Wilkie are extremely disappointed with the decision of the council to grant planning permission at Pathhead Farm. We will be reviewing the decision with our legal advisors over the next few days.
''The magnitude of this decision will only be realised in the next three to six months.
''That operator has already confirmed that the Pathhead site is not of interest and that if Pathhead was granted consent, they would not proceed with the Gairie Works site.
''Given there are no other operators interested in the town, I believe that last night's decision will result in no supermarket for Kirriemuir.''
The Pathhead development will include 381 car parking spaces, 19 of which will be designated disabled bays, and around 200 jobs will be created when the supermarket opens.
Guild carried out two public consultations and say they received 1,132 signed letters of support for their project from local residents.
A study from Kirriemuir Community Council also came back in favour of the proposal.
As part of the construction phase, a new roundabout will be put in place between Maryton and Kirriemuir to slow traffic and provide access.
Newton Cottage on the approach to the site will be demolished to remove the blind bend at Bellies Brae.
Mr Guild said: ''When people visit a major supermarket at Pathhead to do their weekly shop, how easy would it be to pop up to Vissochis for an ice cream, Star Rock Shop for some sweets, Bertram the butcher for that quality piece of meat and visit the many other quality shops at the same time?
''This application does not have one objection from a member of the public, from a shopkeeper, a business in the town centre or anywhere else in Kirriemuir. For any planning application this would be amazing, but for a major application this is simply unbelievable.''
At 3.2 hectares, the site at Pathhead will accommodate a supermarket with some 43,000 sq ft gross floor area. Access would be taken directly from the A926 leading into Kirriemuir.
A previous proposal for the zone, along with another supermarket bid for East Muirhead of Logie, was initially refused by Angus councillors in February 2010.
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