ASDA Withdraw From Dover Development

ASDA Stores Ltd has 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."