Sainsbury's plan for old Homebase site set for approval

Plans by supermarket giant Sainsbury's to open a new store in a former Homebase site in southern Scotland have been recommended for approval.

The company wants to take over a unit on the Cuckoo Bridge Retail Park in Dumfries in a move it said would create 100 new jobs.

However, it would require changes to a condition - originally designed to protect the town centre - which currently limit sales to only non-food bulky goods.

Dumfries and Galloway Council is being recommended to allow that move to go ahead and let the unit open as a supermarket.

Homebase went into administration in late 2024 and the Dumfries site subsequently closed with the loss of about 25 jobs.

However, Sainsbury's - which does not currently have a store in the town - wants to step in to give it a new use.

It said that if given the go-ahead it could "enhance convenience for shoppers, foster healthy competition, increase consumer choice, and contribute positively to the local economy".

At the end of August 2024, Sainsbury's announced expansion plans to open several new supermarkets at a variety of locations across Scotland, England and Northern Ireland in old Homebase stores.

These sites already benefit from planning permission to operate as retail stores but Dumfries has the planning condition limiting the goods which can be sold.

Sainsbury's wants to adjust that condition to let it sell "food and other convenience goods".

A report to Dumfries and Galloway Council is recommending that it should be allowed to go ahead.

It said that analysis had shown there was no suitable alternative site in Dumfries town centre and studies had shown it should not have a "significantly adverse impact" on the town centre.

It added that it had the potential to address an "identified qualitative deficiency" in the retail offering in the area.