A new Tesco store is set to open in East Lothian by 2026 after the supermarket chain revealed plans to move into a new housing estate.
The Tesco Express is planned for Futures Way, Wallyford, where more than 2,000 new homes have been built over the last few years.
It will be the largest retail unit of several planned for the site, which had originally been earmarked for a GP centre to serve the community, with a car park also included.
The proposals were revealed at a meeting of East Lothian Licensing Board this week where representatives of Tesco applied for a provisional licence to sell alcohol from the new store.
They told the board the new Express store is due to open within two years and staff will be fully trained to handle off sales and operate CCTV systems which will be installed.
Asked about the proximity of the new store to both Wallyford Learning Campus and new primary school, they said additional staff would be brought in to cover times when pupils are likely to be passing, such as lunch times, or to enforce a restriction on the number allowed in the store at any given time.
Last year East Lothian Developments Ltd, who are overseeing the delivery of the whole site, said that while original plans had been for six retail units and a medical facility, the NHS ‘did not want’ the land.
The commercial centre for St Clements which will be the new home for Tesco and other smaller retail units, has more than 90 car parking spaces in the plans.
The board unanimously approved the provisional off sales licence for the new Tesco store.
by Marie Sharp Local Democracy Reporter
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
