Lidl has signed a contract with a local businessman for the sale of its current store in Carrick-on-Shannon.
The agreement is with a businessman based at nearby Kilmore, who’s involved in a UK car dealership.
Lidl is appealing to An Bord Pleanála against Leitrim County Council’s decision to refuse it planning permission to develop a store at the Dublin Road in Carrick, near Tesco and Aldi.
It wants to close its existing store on the Roscommon side of the town, at Cortober.
Yet the council rejected the application for the new supermarket, partly because it didn’t have a ‘robust proposal’ for its existing store.
That’s despite Lidl having been given permission to turn the store into a car-sales showroom and gym.
In its appeal to An Bord Pleanála, Lidl claims the council turned the new store down solely because of a lack of certainty about what would happen the existing store.
It says it understands the failure to produce a contract to sell or lease the premises was a major factor.
However, it has now included a contract for the sale with its appeal, which it says was only completed days after the council’s planning decision.
The redacted documents show that on August 3rd, Lidl entered into a contract for the sale of the property to Andrew Creighton, of the Rectory at Kilmore, near Carrick.
Mr Ceighton, who’s buying the store in trust, is well known in the car-sales industry and is involved with dealership draytons.co.uk in London.
The sale includes a condition that Lidl secures permission for the new store, while Mr Creighton, who also has an address in Claremorris, says he doesn’t wish to comment as it’s a commercial deal.
An Bord Pleanála is due to make a decision on the application by December 11th, with the public entitled to make observations until September 4th.
