Retail NI calls for halt on out-of-town superstores

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Retail NI has outlined a number of policy priorities to support high street recovery, including a suspension of new out-of-town superstores.

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The trade body wants the region to follow Scotland’s lead and introduce a five-year moratorium on any more out-of-town superstores.

Retail NI chief executive, Glyn Roberts, told the Assembly’s Infrastructure Committee: “The appalling decision this week by Antrim Newtownabbey Council to grant permission for a major superstore, despite the breach in town centre first planning and the damage it will do to local jobs, has re-enforced the need for this moratorium.

“Retail NI also supports the call for establishing an Infrastructure Commission, devolving on-street car parking to councils, a sixty-minute rail service between Belfast and Dublin and a recommitment to the York Street Interchange and other flagship projects.”

The trade body also called for a Rural Town Infrastructure Investment Fund to be introduced to support the revitalisation of villages and towns.