Planners have given the green light to a new Sainsbury's store in Bangor.

Jobs in the beleaguered construction sector will follow the decision, which involves the demolition of existing buildings, the construction of a new retail store and extension of the existing retail warehouse

It is the eighth major planning application approved by the Environment Minister in the past twelve months.

Minister Poots said the store would be in Balloo Retail Park near an existing Homebase outlet.

"It will be a welcome boost in terms of job creation with approximately 350 full and part-time jobs," he said.

Chris Templeman, Head of Property Development, at Sainsbury's, said that the new store and a refurbished Homebase represented a multi-million pound investment.

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"This development is great news for the local economy in terms of job creation and an additional Sainsbury's store means increased business for our local suppliers," he said.

"Throughout the application process we took part in a comprehensive dialogue with Planning Service. We are grateful for the department's positive engagement which has helped the application to progress to this stage," he concluded.

However, Glyn Roberts, Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Independent Retail Trade Association, (NIIRTA) said the association did not lodge an objection, but commented: "I don't think it will be doing traders in Bangor town centre any favours.

"Bangor town centre needs new retailers and the opening of another out-of-town retailer will put further pressure on the retailers.

"I don't think planners should continue to give planning permission to out-of-town centres. They always result in a net loss of jobs as they ultimately destroy more jobs in town centres than they create," he told the Belfast Telegraph.

See: Tesco's Northcott Plan Approved

(BMcC/GK)