THE Department for Infrastructure (DfI) has written to Fermanagh and Omagh District Council telling them not to grant planning permission for the Lakelands Retail and Leisure Park.

The application – which received approval from the Council’s Planning Committee at a meeting on June 16 – would see the building of the development on the old Unipork site on the Cornagrade Road in Enniskillen.

With councillors on the planning committee split on whether or not to approve the application, the deciding vote – cast by the committee Chair – saw the application being approved.

However, a letter sent to the Head of Planning for the Council from the DfI, and seen by this paper, stated: “The Department hereby directs, under the terms of Article 17 of The Planning (General Development Procedure) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015, that your council may not grant planning permission for the above mentioned development until further advised by the Department.

“The Department has decided to issue this direction to allow it time to consider whether or not the proposed development raises issues that require the application to be referred to it for further consideration and determination.”

There is a difference of opinion as to whether or not the development would be a positive or negative move for the town. Many have welcomed the decision to grant planning permission for the retail park, which will bring The Range and Tim Horton’s to Fermanagh, and would be a welcome boost for jobs and investment in the county.

However, others believe the development would prove the death of the town centre. and some businesses there.

A meeting was held on Monday, June 21, with prominent local business owners coming together to assess their options in fighting against the development.

The Council confirmed to The Impartial Reporter that the only way forward for those opposed to the Lakelands development is a judicial review.

The developers for the site, Elm Grange, remain confident that the development’s approval will go ahead.

A spokesperson for Elm Grange said: “The decision to approve Lakelands Retail and Leisure Park was made by a democratic vote of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council’s Planning Committee.

“As with all planning applications, the Department for Infrastructure have oversight powers, and will review the decision.

“This departmental review is purely procedural and we are confident that the Council will formally approve our application shortly.”

A DfI spokesperson said the Department issued a ‘holding’ direction to consider if the application “called in”.

If the application is called in, the DfI will become the decision-maker, but at the moment the jurisdiction for the decision remains with the Council.