BRITISH RETAIL giant John Lewis has welcomed a decision to hold a planning inquiry into a proposed £150 million shopping development where it intends to locate its first store in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland Environment Minister Sammy Wilson has launched an inquiry into the proposed retail development at Sprucefield, near Lisburn, nearly five years after it was proposed.

The development would add 46,000sq m of retail space at Sprucefield which is already a big cross-Border shopping attraction.

Sprucefield Shopping Centre is home to the largest Marks Spencer store in the North and a leading Boots store. There is also a large Sainsbury’s and a BQ store.

The joint venture company behind the new Sprucefield development, which comprises Westfield and Snoddens Construction, first applied for planning permission for a department store and 29 smaller retail units in 2004.

They claimed it had the potential to create more than 2,000 jobs, including 500 construction jobs. The application got the go-ahead in 2005 from the then environment minister Jeff Rooker. But this was reversed after a challenge by traders in Belfast and Lisburn who objected to the scale of the smaller retail units and their potential impact on local business.

The controversial development has been on hold because of a series of legal challenges. To date the developers have lodged four separate planning applications for the site, the latest last August.

The developers are still seeking planning permission for a department store on four levels, but have scaled back the retail units to 19.

The North’s Environment Minister said the proposal would now be referred to a public inquiry because there were still a number of “unresolved” issues relating to retail and the scale of the potential impact on local towns and cities.

“In making this decision I am conscious of the importance of new inward investment and the potential for employment associated with the proposal particularly in the economic climate,” Mr Wilson said.

John Lewis said it believes a public inquiry will help get the £150 million development back on track.

“Throughout what has been a long and protracted planning process, John Lewis has remained fully committed to opening a full-line department store at Sprucefield, delivering a significant retail and employment boost to Northern Ireland as a whole,” the department group added.