NI Conservatives’ planning spokesman, Bill Manwaring, has described the situation over the proposed John Lewis store at Sprucefield as “a shambles”.
“We have a major retailer which wants to invest £150 million in Northern Ireland’s economy and create 1,500 jobs, yet the DOE minister has put every possible obstacle in John Lewis’s way”, Bill observed. “This situation has been going on for many years and now Alex Attwood has effectively told the company that they should take their business to Dublin.”
“It is necessary to protect our town centres and to find a balance between large retailers and smaller shops. However, in the current economic climate, the minister’s actions are wrong for business, wrong for people who are unemployed and wrong for consumers. A John Lewis store at Sprucefield would have brought money into Northern Ireland, by attracting shoppers from across the island.”
“Alex Attwood has badly mishandled this situation, letting down Northern Ireland and particularly the unemployed. The executive must take action to reverse the damage and show that Northern Ireland is open for business”.