A proposed 46,000 square foot Tesco superstore - which is planned to be located at the edge of the village of Crumlin - would devastate the local economy.

This was the claim made at a meeting of Crumlin traders held earlier this week, which heard strong opposition expressed to the proposed development.

Spokesperson for the Crumlin traders - Northern Ireland Independent Retail Trade Association (NIIRTA) member Gerard McAdorey - said it was "frankly unbelievable" that Tesco would even consider such an application for such a huge store on the outskirts of the village, adding it could "lead to the ruin of Crumlin".

He said: "Local traders are deeply concerned that the proposed store could remove business from local traders who have been in the village for many years.

"We have also major concerns that the traffic which this store would attract would have a severe impact on the environment and community in such a rural village.

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"Tesco's own annual report showed average turnover figures of £1,144 per sq ft net sales area. Even taking these average figures the proposed store will generate a turnover in excess of £32 million. This will have a huge impact on the vitality and viability of Crumlin town centre and the towns existing retail offer."

He added: "Crumlin Traders will now be putting together a campaign to oppose this application and will be seeking meetings with our local MLAs and MP to seek their support for the local traders."

Glyn Roberts, NIIRTA Chief Executive who spoke at the meeting said: "Once again we are seeing another small town facing retail and environmental devastation as a result of another application by a multiple supermarket.

"Crumlin is now joining Banbridge, Larne, Ballyclare and a number of others on the list of towns facing completely unsustainable out of town development. A 46,000 sq foot Tesco store for such a small village is simply unacceptable.

"NIIRTA, on behalf of our members and local traders, have formally objected to the store in writing to the Planning Service," he said.

However, he also noted that the Planning Service has not even sought a Retail Impact Assessment in order to assess the impact of the application on the town.

Mr Roberts concluded: "The Transport Assessment (TA) in support of the planning application is fundamentally flawed and has been culled from other proposed stores such as Ballycastle.

"The proposed development would, if permitted prejudice the safety and convenience of road users since it would cause an increase in traffic movements and exceed the capacity of the adjacent mini-roundabouts at the Main Street/Mill Road junction and the Main Street/Glenavy Road junction, which are heavily congested."

(JM)(BMcC)