There's a fresh bid being made this week for a new Co Donegal Tesco store.

Building contractors will be keeping an eye on developments as, even though the supermarket giant withdrew its previous planning application a month ago, Tesco Ireland has now lodged a fresh application with Donegal County Council for a 330sq metre store at Donegal Road in Ballybofey.

No reason for the previous withdrawal was given when the company communicated the move to Donegal County Council through a planning consultant last month, but it is believed it was on foot of the Retail, Grocery, Dairy and Allied Trades' Association (RGDATA) objection.

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The representative organisation for independent grocers had said the application was for a 300 square metre store and that a store that size would be more appropriate in "the existing commercial core" of Ballybofey.

At the time, a spokeswoman for Tesco Ireland would only say "Tesco is fully committed to bringing modern shopping facilities to consumers in Ballybofey."

It was the second application the company made to develop a store on the six-acre site it bought in 2004 after an application in 2005 was turned down on appeal.

RGDATA claimed in its submission that the rezoning of the Tesco land as 'town centre' was an attempt to overcome An Bord Pleanála's reasons for rejecting the original 2005 application.

Tesco opened in its only store in Co Donegal at the Letterkenny Shopping Centre in 2003.

(BMcC/GK)