Armadale residents get preview of supermarket plans

Jul 28 2011 by Alistair Watson, West Lothian Courier

asda

ARMADALE residents got a sneak preview of Asda’s store proposals for Armadale Station at a public exhibition recently.

The supermarket giants claim the new 40,000 square foot store will create up to 150 new jobs in the area, as well as additional construction and supplier opportunities.

The public exhibition was held at Armadale Library in North Street and over 100 residents popped in to look and comment on the plans.

Lisa Rooke, Property Communications Manager for Asda in Scotland, said she was delighted by the public response to the exhibition.

She added: “Around 100 residents visited the exhibition over the course of the day and the overwhelming response was extremely positive.

“Many people are keen to see the new store open as soon as possible. Asda will ensure that West Lothian Council receives the comments made at the exhibition and will shortly be submitting a planning application on the amended design and layout. We look forward to receiving a decision on this and getting to work on the new store.”

Asda’s proposals include a new store with a gross floor area of approximately 40,000 square feet; a petrol filling station; 260 car parking spaces with provision for parent and child parking and for customers with disabilities; cycle parking spaces and additional recycling facilities for the area.

The new supermarket is part of a much larger development based round the new Armadale Station with Bellway Homes and Taylor Wimpey signingup to build 180 homesin the first phase.

SDA Ltd have lodged another planning application with West Lothian Council for 394 homes on the site; neighbourhood shops next to the station; a community building next to the station which has been designed to incorporate an anchor use such as a nursery or a doctors’ surgery, together with smaller units to accommodate, for example, a dental surgery, beautician and/or chiropodist clinics; an office building next to the new roundabout in Station Road which has been designed to accommodate either several independent small businesses or a high-profile single occupier and two mixed use buildings incorporating flats and ground floor commercial units set around the supermarket and Civic Square.

The Armadale Station development is focused around the new Armadale Railway Station on the Bathgate to Airdrie rail link and is expected tocreate around 4500permanent jobs whencomplete.

It will include a supermarket, primary school, hotel, multiplex cinema, retail, restaurants, care home, health centre, business and industrial units, extensive public parks, additional links to surrounding roads, and approximately 1000 houses and flats.