Trouble in store as row over retail park expansion erupts

Published on Monday 14 December 2009 08:56

A RETAIL row has broken out over plans to expand a major out-of-town shopping park.

The new owner of Hermiston Gait Retail Park wants to drive forward a massive expansion by adding an extra mezzanine floor to eight of its existing stores.

But the owner of the St James Centre – which is planning a multi-million-pound new shopping district in the city centre – has called for the plans to be rejected. It said that the focus for retail expansion should be in the city centre.

The plans for Hermiston Gait would see retail space increase by 60,000 square feet.

The revamp, by a property trust run by the Scottish Widows Investment Trust (SWIP) that bought Hermiston Gait for 66 million earlier this year, will also see a revamp of the entrance canopies to eight of the units, as well as the creation of a new "pod" unit housing retail, food, drink and toilet facilities.

But the plans have angered Henderson Global Investors (HGI), the London real estate giant behind the 850m St James Quarter vision.

Robert Newton, an agent for GVA Grimley, acting for HGI, points to the Edinburgh City Local Plan, which states that it will "protect and promote the vital mix of government, cultural, business, retail and leisure uses in the city centre". He said: "

The application is contrary to the development plan therefore and should be refused. Any other decision would undermine confidence in the council's approach to safeguarding future investment in the city centre and would have serious implications for the key objective of regenerating the centre."

The units that would benefit from the additional level would be Currys, Halfords, Harveys, Carpet Right, Staples, Mothercare and JJB, plus one vacant unit.

In a statement by Montagu Evans for the development, the firm said that the retail park is now considered "dated and unattractive". It added: "The park is perceived poorly by retailers and customers."

Planning officials have recommended that the scheme is given approval at a planning committee meeting on Wednesday.

John Bury, the council's head of planning, said: "Given the nature of the goods predominantly sold at Hermiston Gait, alternative locations for the type and scale of retail space proposed are limited so, subject to the type of retailing undertaken being controlled, the sequential approach could be satisfied."