Plans for Crescent Link store to be challenged by Tesco, says Lidl boss

Supermarket giant Lidl says it has been informed rival chain Tesco intends to launch a legal challenge against their plan to build a new store in Londonderry.

Plans to build the store at Crescent Link in Derry’s Waterside were first submitted in 2021 and given the green light earlier this year by Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins.

But Lidl said it has now learned that Tesco has written to the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) requesting permission to challenge the store’s ministerial approval.

That challenge, Lidl said, could jeopardise millions of pounds of investment in the north west region as well as the creation of hundreds of new jobs.

“From our side it’s extremely disappointing and frustrating that there’s another potential roadblock for our Crescent Link store,” Lidl’s regional managing director Gordon Cruikshanks said.

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle’s Mark Patterson Show, Cruikshanks said Lidl had been made aware of “a pre-action protocol in advance of a judicial review” in relation to Crescent Link.

He said that meant “Tesco have written to the Department of Infrastructure requesting that planning permission recently granted to ourselves is quashed”.

“We are extremely concerned to learn of Tesco’s plans to attempt to hinder our expansion in Derry-Londonderry through a judicial review process,” he said.