I’ve had a bit of a hump recently about the new Dobbie’s Garden World on the outskirts of Lisburn, which then turned into an even bigger hump about Dobbie’s Garden World when I discovered via a tip off from an elderly lady in the church craft group that Dobbie’s was actually owned by Tesco.
Is that the same Tesco that are going to make their already big store on the other side of town even bigger?
There at least 3-4 small garden centres close to my house that seem to have been serving the local community pretty well for the time I have lived here.
Suddenly a huge multiple garden chain opens on the outskirts of town, with a big car park and the people flock to it.
I’d be rightly pissed off if I worked at one of those garden centres, especially if (when?)business starts slowing down.
The same way I’d be pissed off if I owned a shop in Lisburn town centre. You can park for free at Sprucefield without fear of getting a parking ticket but in Lisburn you have to pay to park the car worried that a traffic warden is about to ticket you.
Tesco, Sainsbury, Marks & Spencers. Dobbies, B&Q, possibly a John Lewis, what is the story? Are we determined to make every medium sized town in Ireland and the Uk the same as the next?
A few months ago I listed all the shops on Lisburn Main St. There are so many stores that you can now get in any town in the UK or Ireland. Why do council’s not do more to encourage local business?
You don’t encourage local business by building a John Lewis on the outskirts of town, here or in Belfast.
canal ways 
Amen to that! Lisburn City Council seems to be going out of its way to….
A) Encourage in any and all multi-national retailers (can you imagine a private retailer getting planning permission for that plot Dobbies is on? – the roads can’t even cope!).
B) Drive people out of Lisburn centre by taking away car parks (like the one the Library was built on) and chasing people away with over zealous traffic wardens as you point out.
I have to laugh every time they mention the jobs ‘created’ by the John Lewis proposal. It’s merely jobs ‘transferred’ from the centre of Lisburn to more out of town shopping. Something that’s now banned in the rest of the UK because it’s decimated so many town centres.
hi bob:)
thanks for the comment
yes, you will probably wake up tomorrow morning and find Asda building a new store in your garden beside the new Nando’s Chicken joint in the house next door…:
I’ve an issue with the jobs created speil as well that is brought out everytime some new development like the new Tesco expansion in Newtownards is announced on Radio Ulster etc.
Its like jobs created justifies any planning decision because of the recession. But is that really the case??
Does it not matter if they’re good jobs or not,
or just temporary shift work jobs,
or sustainable jobs,
or jobs that have been taken away from local shops,
or jobs for people who love the local area and want to serve the people their with their own business etc?
I was just passing through the Tuesday morning market in LIsburn and its like the council are wanting to make it as aukward as possible for the traders and people who use it. There is no parking nearby and they have to pay for it.
The same for the queue of cars that are waiting to cram into the tiny car park for Green’s.
You could never imagine the council building a covered sheltered, warm area for the market for whenever the weather is rubbish or giving Green’s more parking space.
I was thinking they should charge people for using the carparks at Sprucefield, Tesco’s Dobbies etc and use the money generated to make Lisburn more sustainable.
I’m not sure why its OK to have traffic congestion round the Saintfield Rd Roundabout or Sprucefield caused by excess traffic but to charge people for parking round LIsburn to ease traffic congestion….
sorry for the rant!well, not really:)
Support local business 🙂