Rival superstores to go ahead with Aberdeen developments

By JOHN ROBERTSON
Published on 12/10/2012 02:11

Plans for two superstores only a short distance apart in west Aberdeen have been put back on track, after a ruling by appeal court judges.

A new Tesco store at the site of the former Woodend Hospital annexe is due to open soon, and Morrisons intends to build a store five minutes’ walk away at the old Summerhill School site.

Tesco objected to its rival’s plans and went to the Court of Session in Edinburgh to ask for the Aberdeen Local Development Plan to be quashed. It argued that Aberdeen City Council had been wrong to adopt the plan while they were aware that the Woodend development was proceeding.

However, Lord Carloway, the Lord Justice-Clerk, sitting with Lords Menzies and Marnoch, refused the application.

“Even if [the council] had been aware that Woodend was progressing apace, their adoption of the local development plan cannot be seen to run counter to any recommendation by a reporter that there should only be one superstore in west Aberdeen. There was no such recommendation,” said Lord Carloway.