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The 13 acre site has been given the go ahead for a development comprising a supermarket, car showroom, offices and business buildings and a vehicle refuelling hub. Asda have identified themselves as the potential supermarket operators.
The site, owned by the Stirling Development Agency, was previously approved by Councillors for a similarly-scaled development from the same applicant, including an Asda supermarket, in January 2022.
However, it was 'called in' by the Reporter to the Scottish Ministers, who recommended refusal of the planning application as he could not "safely conclude" that the development would not have a significant or unacceptable impact on the city centre. Scottish Ministers subsequently accepted those reasons and refused the application.
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However, in their new application, the developer submitted an updated Retail Impact Assessment (RIA), which was independently assessed on behalf of Stirling Council planners.
The RIA indicated that the city currently doesn't provide easy access to all four of the major supermarket operators. It also suggested that supermarkets in the Stirling area are currently overtrading by around £10 million, but this would grow to £25 million by 2030 as the population increases, and that a new supermarket would improve competition and choice.
The RIA also found that the impact on Stirling city centre would not be significant, with conditions to limit the amount of retail floor space at the new supermarket and its use to be predominantly for the sale of food and convenience goods.
The development would provide an estimated 350 new jobs and, Councillors agreed, it would also reduce the risk of local residents leaving the area to shop in other retail park locations across the Forth Valley and beyond.
Five representations were received as part of the application process – four were objections, with one neutral.
