Marks & Spencer is set to get the go ahead to open its first East Lothian store.
Plans for new retail units go before councillors next week.
Council planners are recommending the proposals, which will see an M&S Food store, Lidl and B&M open on the outskirts of Dunbar, are given the go ahead.
And they say applicants East Oakwood Developments have argued the addition of the new stores could help stem an estimated leak of more than £16million of money spent by local outside of the town by offering more choices.
In their supporting statement to the council the developers say Dunbar suffers significantly from leakage.
It says £16.2m which equates to 37% of local expenditure goes elsewhere with most spent in nearby marketing town Haddington and the remainder going to North Berwick.
They argue the addition of the new stores will draw trade not just from Dunbar itself but also from North Berwick and Haddington with the M&S food store an added attraction for shoppers from surrounding communities.
The applicants said the addition of an M&S Food would be likely to result in ‘clawback’ of expenditure.
The plans for the new retail units received five local objections with concerns it would impact Dunbar town centre and increase use of cars.
Dunbar Community Council also raised concerns about the impact on traffic and the town centre, however planners said the site, which is next to Dunbar Garden Centre and a large Asda store and McDonald’s drive-thru would sit comfortably next to them and were of a ” size, scale and design appropriate to their location”.
Recommending them for approval at next week’s planning committee officers said the new plans would not have an impact on the “vitality and viability of Dunbar Town Centre, or Spott Road Local Centre.”
The committee nets on Tuesday to decide the application.
By Marie Sharp Local Democracy Reporter
