Tesco drop legal bid over Aberdeen development plan

Tesco has dropped its legal bid. Picture: Phil Wilkinson

The supermarket chain announced last year it was taking its case to have the development plan quashed to the Supreme Court in a long running dispute over the council’s decision to zone a site, close to its Rousay Drive store in the city, for retail use.

The retail giant was also appealing against a decision to grant rivals Morrisons planning permission for a new store on the site of the former Summerhill Academy in Lang Stracht, arguing that the area could not sustain the two retail outlets. The city council had sold the former secondary school site to Morrisons for more than £20 million.

But today the council announced that Tesco had decided to drop its legal challenge to the UK’s highest court.

Councillor Barney Crockett, the leader of the council, said: “I am delighted that Tesco has decided to be positive about Aberdeen and has dropped this unfortunate action which has caused serious problems for the entire city.

“Aberdeen is an economic powerhouse. It is attracting international attention from investors and businesses which see the opportunities this flourishing city can offer and they want to take advantage of those opportunities.

“Nevertheless, the Tesco challenge to the Local Development Plan could have undermined developer confidence in the city and it is impossible to say how much damage these spurious court actions have caused.”

Councillor Crockett added: “I am confident, however, that damage can be repaired and that the abandonment of the legal challenge can only serve to further boost confidence in Aberdeen as a can-do city which offers fantastic development and growth opportunities to businesses across the spectrum and that developer confidence in our city will be fully restored. “We hope that a line has now been drawn and we can restore normal relations with Tesco.”

Councillor Ramsay Milne, the convener of the council’s Development Management Sub-committee, said: “I am delighted that Tesco has finally seen the error of its ways. Many hours of officer time and thousands of pounds of public money have been consumed by its ill-conceived action over a single development.”

He added: “It is particularly unfortunate that Tesco, which has been very well served by the people of Aberdeen, decided to attack development and economic prospects for the whole of the city by attempting to have the entire Local Development Plan quashed rather than simply challenging the part of the Plan with which the company disagreed. “Tesco’s decision to drop the Supreme Court action vindicates the Plan and the officers who drew it up.”

Valerie Watts, the council’s chief executive, said: “This is fantastic news for Aberdeen. The legal challenge from Tesco threw considerable doubt on the future development of the city, which had been clearly mapped out by the Plan, and knocked the confidence of developers and investors.”

A Tesco spokeswoman said: ‘We have decided to withdraw our challenge of the Aberdeen Local Development Plan. We are pleased to have recently opened our store in Aberdeen Woodend, building upon our existing investment in the city and continue to serve local customers from our popular stores.”

The Aberdeen Local Development Plan was formally adopted in February, 2012 - the first in Scotland to be approved and adopted under new planning legislation.