I thank the Chairman. It was a pleasure to host members of the committee at Belfast, Ballyclare and Banbridge last week. I hope the committee finds the experiences of the traders there useful in terms of its inquiry.
I presented a short written summary to the committee's inquiry and will touch on some of the main points in it. We are the sister organisation of RGDATA in Northern Ireland. We represent more than 1,000 independent retailers, mainly in the retail grocery sector, small grocery stores, butchers, bakers and one candlestick maker in Northern Ireland. Collectively they generate in excess of £1 billion every year to the Northern Ireland economy and employ more than 20,000 staff. Given that Northern Ireland is very much a small business economy, the independent retail sector is the biggest subsection. It is an essential part of our economy.
In the context of the committee's inquiry, it is not, perhaps, for us to comment on issues inside the Republic but what we can do is give our experiences in terms of retail planning, or the lack of retail planning, in Northern Ireland during the past 15 years. Central to our core policy agenda is the publication of what is known as draft PPS5 which brings our retail planning policy into line with the rest of the UK. We have lobbied consistently for this for the past ten years and have been pushing direct rule at Ministers. We are now at a point where there is all-party support within the Northern Ireland Assembly for its publication. However, its publication is held back because of a judicial review brought by another developer. We hope that judicial review will be resolved very soon and that the publication of draft PPS5, which is different, does not contain a cap unlike the one in the Republic. Some of the questions we asked of your committee related to why we do not push for a cap. We want to get draft PPS5 published which will make it much focused on the big multiples investing in their town centres rather than on unsustainable out-of-town development.
Having said that, we are looking at towns such as Ballyclare, Ballycastle, Banbridge, Larne, Omagh, Derry, Ballinahinch and Newry, all of which are threatened by major new out-of-town super store developments. Our message is clear. We are not anti-multiple, anti-Tesco or ASDA but we are anti out-of-town super store developments. For us it is about location, location, location. The committee saw six examples of a multiple coming into a town centre in Ballyclare and Ballycastle. The ASDA in Ballyclare was great for the town. It increased the retail facility that Ballyclare had to offer. It also ensured that all the traders in the town were on a level playing field. One could do one's shopping in ASDA, Woodsides or any other small retailer. The traders in Ballyclare welcomed the arrival of that store. It is unfortunate that Tesco wants to build an out-of-town store there which threatens all of that retail trade. The traders and the local council are united in their opposition, as are many in the local community. Banbridge faces the prospect of having the largest ever Tesco store on this island, a mile out of the town where there is a very good Tesco within the town centre. We are not anti-multiple but we are anti out-of-town super store developments. We want to see a level playing field. Ultimately it always gets back to what the consumer wants, that is, choice and a variety of retail offering within their town centres.
The committee will see from our presentation that a variety of research has been done in Westminster by an all-party group on small shops, the national retail planning forum, the new economics foundation, all of which show that out-of-town development by the big multiples results in a net loss of jobs. A study conducted in England and Wales by the national retail planning forum on over 90 different out-of-town stores showed that average net job loss was in the region of 270, not to mention the hundreds of small shops that could not compete with out-of-town stores and went to the wall. We commissioned research from the University of Ulster which showed very clearly that unless our retail planning policy is modernised and brought into line with the rest of the UK, never mind the system in the Republic, in the region of the 7,000 jobs and 700 to 800 small shops are at risk. Unfortunately, we already have examples of retail devastation in areas such as Antrim, as a result of out-of-town development. Despite the strong lobby of some of the traders within that town, the council prefers to promote a policy of out-of-town development by ASDA which is trying to locate a store at Junction One.
I draw the attention of the committee to the fact that it comes down to a choice for consumers in Northern |reland. If all these planning applications go ahead and the draft PPS5 is not published, many of our historic market towns in Northern Ireland, which came through the Troubles and provided an invaluable service to the community at a time of greater political stability and peace are threatened. Now that we have greater political stability and peace, their businesses are threatened because our retail planning system is biased towards the multiples. They are finding it very difficult to cope within that environment.
All we are seeking is a level playing field, whereby town centre investment by multiples is promoted first so that small and large retailers can provide customers with choice. It would be utter madness to remove the cap on out-of-town development in the Republic. This committee has witnessed the damage that has been done to Northern Ireland in that regard.