Co-op lodge supermarket plan for Wester Ross village of Gairloch
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A NEW supermarket could open in Gairloch early next year if an application before Highland Council planners is approved.
Whiterow Properties is seeking permission to build a Co-op store on land just west of the village’s McColl’s Store, at the junction of the A832 and B8021.
The new building would feature a 5000 square feet retail unit, at least 25 parking bays, a service yard, a 3727 sq ft sales floor and an ATM cash dispenser on the 33,411 sq ft green field site.
The application will be considered under planning officials’ delegated powers with a determination deadline of March 31.
Agents for the developers told the Ross-shire Journal the new superstore could create 16 full and part-time jobs.
Gairloch-based Highland councillor Derek MacLeod felt the proposal would be broadly supported locally.
Cllr MacLeod said: “I would imagine this will be viewed as very welcome.
“As well as increasing the range of products available to people in the area, the investment will create some much-needed jobs locally as well.”
One member of the public, Duncan Morrison, has submitted an objection to the plan, stating: "In addition to struggling to see how the proposed retail unit can be accessed safely in an already busy cross-roads area, I am deeply concerned about the impact this proposal will have on many existing local businesses.
"These have served and supported the local area for many years and decades. How many local businesses will survive?
"Once a local business closes it is lost to the community for good and subsequently, Gairloch with a thriving village, runs the risk of becoming a ghost town with only a major trader's unit on its outskirts."
But Hannah Thompson, who runs The Little Green Shop in Gairloch, described it as “an absolutely fantastic proposal”, adding: “Gairloch has long been in need of development and the plans look to provide this in a way that is sympathetic to the area.
“I am a local business owner and am excited at the benefits this increase in services will provide.
“(It is) a brilliant use for unused land and a credit to the area. Co-op are a company with great values and ethos, and have done great work in other small communities.”
A spokeswoman for Springfield Real Estate Management Ltd, agents for the developers, said: "All going well, the store is likely to create 16 jobs – both full and part-time – and if we manage to get the project through planning and warrant by early spring, we would be looking at handover and store opening by early 2023."
The firm says it is also looking to add a landscape proposal to create a small garden area at the front of the store, with external seating and cycle parking.
The spokeswoman added: "We are currently preparing the design statement and landscape plan for submission and updating parking to provide 33 standard spaces, two disabled bays and four electric charge bays."
Reaction on Gairloch Community Council’s social media was mixed, with some voicing concern over a loss of trade to existing retailers and the spoiling of views towards the Minch, but others saying Gairloch residents should be happy the Co-op were providing the community with jobs and a varied diet.
Standard public consultation on the proposal ends on February 27.
