Supermarket expansion gets the green light

Alexandra Wood

PLANS to double the size of a Tesco supermarket in an East Riding market town can go ahead after legal action by rival developers was dropped.

The expansion of the George Street store, in Driffield, was put on hold after the owners of the former cattle market site, whose own proposals included a superstore, sought a judicial review.

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The legal action by the Driffield Cattle Market Company has now been withdrawn and local politicians say they now hope to see the Tesco scheme go ahead, as well as the redevelopment of a third site, the Viking Centre, which has been held in abeyance.

Ward councillor Symon Fraser said: “Everyone would welcome the redevelopment of the Tesco store and likewise the development of the Aldi store down on the Viking Centre site.

“In my candid view the cattle market site remains the one which will be the most difficult for developers to deliver and it will still present challenges.

“All three ward councillors have always stood behind the three applications saying we need all three for the long term future of Driffield.”

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Driffield mayor Steve Poessl, who campaigned against the supermarket schemes, accepted he’d “lost the argument” and now looked forward to seeing “eyesore” sites like the Viking centre being redeveloped. But he added: “The cattle market site is the wrong place for a superstore full stop, purely because of the road network.”

Next month’s planning committee looks set to give final planning approval to the cattle market site and the Aldi scheme.

A spokesman for Tesco said: "This is a welcome move. Unfortunately this latest news comes when we have already agreed our building programme for the near future. However, we remain committed to improving our offer to customers in Driffield, and will update residents and the council as soon as we can on the timescales.”