Tesco confirm plans to proceed to upgrade existing Ballina store

Anton McNulty

Tesco have confirmed they plan to proceed with the an upgrade of their existing Ballina store but on a smaller scale than had been originally planned.
Tesco was granted planning permission by An Bord PleanΡla for the upgrade of their store in the centre of Ballina in 2015 which would have seen the demolition of the existing store and construction of a retail store with a 6,881 square metre gross floor area along with an underground car park and 280 car parking spaces.
However, work on this development never commenced and local pressure has been mounting on Tesco to clarify their plans for the town centre store.
In a statement issued last Thursday, Geoff Byrne, Chief Operating Officer at Tesco Ireland, confirmed that the company are to enter discussions with Mayo County Council with a view to seeking planning permission to ‘carry out an external store upgrade and plans to significantly enhance the interior of its store in Ballina’.
“Our aim is to ensure that Tesco Ballina provides a welcoming, modern environment for our colleagues and our customers. We are confident that, subject to permission, these works will vastly improve our store in the town. We recognise that it has taken us some time to update in relation to our store, and we thank our colleagues and the wider community, for bearing with us,” he stated before adding that subject to discussions, Tesco intents to submit a planning application to Mayo County Council for external works.

News welcomed
While the development will not be to the scale of the original plan, the news was welcomed by Ballina-based TD Dara Calleary who said that he hopes the development will proceed once planning permission is approved.
“I have been actively pursuing Tesco Ireland for a number of months now to ensure that the proposed development of the Ballina store moves towards commencement.
“I am continuing to engage with Tesco Ireland in relation to this issue – I will be emphasising the urgent need to proceed without delay, subject to planning being granted, so that the experience instore is enhanced and so that the external appearance of the store is greatly improved,” said Deputy Calleary.
“I would hope that works would proceed as soon as planning is granted and I will be working with my colleagues Cllr Annie May Reape and Cllr Michael Loftus, in respect of that application,” concluded Deputy Calleary.
The current Tesco store is located on Market Square/Market Road in the centre of Ballina and was the first Tesco store in Co Mayo having replaced the existing Quinnsworth Supermarket in 1997. There are now five other Tesco stores across Co Mayo located in Swinford, Claremorris, Castlebar, Westport and Ballinrobe and in total there are 471 people employed in the six stores.