by Graham Tutthill

Asda Stores have announced that following an internal
review of its involvement in the Dover Town Investment Zone
proposals, the company has decided to withdraw its plans for a new
store in the scheme.

Dover District Council has expressed its
disappointment that, following the granting of planning permission
last year, ASDA has chosen to withdraw having decided that their
part of the scheme is no longer commercially viable.

The Council has already confirmed with Bond
City, its development partner, that existing commitments for a
hotel and other housing aspects of the scheme will be able to
progress for other areas of the site. The Council has now started
to review alternative options to replace ASDA and will continue to
drive these discussions forward as a matter of urgency.

All parties have put a significant amount of
work into creating the framework for the comprehensive development
of the highly visible site next to a nationally strategic road into
the port over the last few years. This work has included overcoming
initial concerns from organisations such as the Highways Agency,
English Heritage, CABE and the Environment Agency, while also
acquiring land such as the former Stagecoach Depot and
Charrington’s Site.

The immense amount of work that has taken
place to progress the Dover Town Investment Zone scheme will secure
progress on the original application and will be available to any
new prospective partners for this key investment site.

Dover District Council will continue to
promote the district as an area prime for investment during these
very difficult financial times, building on the recent retail
successes of Morrisons and B&Q, as well as Dover’s Sea Sports
Centre, the High Speed Train, and developments in the Whitfield
Business Park.

The Leader of Dover District Council,
Councillor Paul Watkins, stated: “I am disappointed that, after all
of the effort the Council, ASDA and our partner Bond City have put
into this development, we are not able to continue with ASDA as a
partner for this part of the Dover Town Investment Zone scheme. We
will now work hard to secure the rest of the development and seek a
new partner to replace ASDA.”

An ASDA spokesperson said: "We are very
disappointed but despite the best efforts of all concerned, we have
had to end our involvement in the scheme. There were key areas that
we could not agree on, such as design requirements and
the operation of the shoppers’ car park. We want to
invest in Dover but unfortunately we will not be able to bring
forward an ASDA store on this site. We hope that the Council and
Bond City will be able to progress the regeneration of the area
with another partner and we wish them well."