Department apology for Lidl 5-year planning wait

A Stormont department has apologised for a five-year delay in processing a planning application for a new Lidl supermarket in Londonderry.

The retail chain submitted plans for the store at Crescent Link in 2021 and the application was approved by Derry City and Strabane District Council.

But it was "called in" by the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), which has the legal power to review an application when it is considered to be of regional significance.

That has yet to be finalised but in a statement on Thursday, the department said work was "now progressing" and it apologised for the delay in coming to a final decision.

"The department has completed both a retail assessment and a review of the applicant's retail assessment," a DfI spokeswoman said.

"We must provide a report and recommendation to ensure a robust decision is reached."

Councils in Northern Ireland make decisions on local planning applications but the department can step in to make a final ruling if it believes an application raises issues of regional importance.

That is what happened in this case and the department must now decide whether to uphold or overturn the original decision.

The apology comes a day after Lidl announced a £31m investment in the north west over the next five years, including plans for three new stores and more than 100 retail jobs.

That included the plans for the store at Crescent Link.

Lidl's regional managing director Gordon Cruikshanks said they were "engaging with all the stakeholders" to ensure the Crescent Link store was given the go-ahead.

But he said it could be "quite frustrating with the timelines around planning".

The supermarket's sense of frustration was shared by DUP MLA Gary Middleton and SDLP assembly member Sinéad McLaughlin.

Middleton told BBC Radio Foyle's Mark Patterson Show a decision "really now needs just to be made".

McLaughlin said the planning system "must support, not hinder, progress".

In 2022, supermarket chain Iceland scrapped plans to open a new store at Crescent Link retail park over planning process delays.

The following year the owner of the retail park said it was "deeply disappointing" that redevelopment plans for a new Marks and Spencer store were to be shelved in part because of "numerous delays with the planning process".