Retail NI have hit out at Wednesday's decision by the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council's (FODC) Planning Committee to approve planning for the Lakeland Retail and Leisure Park.

Yesterday afternoon the casting vote by the committee chairman gave the green light for the site, which has split opinion with some saying it will be good for Enniskillen while others claim it is a death knell for the town's High Street.

Commenting on last night’s decision to grant the major out of town retail application on the former Unipork site outside Enniskillen, Retail NI Chief Executive, Glyn Roberts said:

“This is a shameful decision based upon exaggerated claims of new jobs being created and completely ignored the concerns of local independent retailers and small businesses in Enniskillen Town Centre”

“We believe this application won't complement the existing retail offer; it is in fact a competing town centre which will decimate what is a well-established and successful Enniskillen town centre. This scheme is a fragrant breach of the 'town centre first' policy. It beggars belief that such an outdated business model has been approved by the Fermanagh Omagh Planning Committee”

“As we have seen before with countless other out-of-town retail development, it always destroys and displaces existing town centre retail jobs”