By Isla Glen

Stirling has lost the final piece in the supermarket set – an unnecessary Asda superstore – as Scottish ministers have rejected plans for a £20 million retail development near Springkerse Retail Park.

Let’s be realistic, Stirling does not need an Asda. There’s already a Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury, Lidl, Aldi, M&S, Waitrose, Iceland, Farmfoods and more. We are spoiled for choice.

Which found Asda to be the third cheapest supermarket in the UK, but it doesn’t offer anything new. Aldi and Lidl offer lower-priced groceries and their clothes selection would be outmatched. Some stores offer a pharmacy, a petrol pump or a Timpson. Again, nothing new.

If it were a sustainability store, like the trial one in Leeds, then it would be worth the impact. Refillable goods, secondhand clothes and a recycling facility would be welcome in Stirling, a city slowly turning green.

However, it’s not as if an Asda is hundreds of miles away. Alloa, Stenhousemuir, Falkirk, Grangemouth and Cumbernauld all have one. At most, it’s a 25 minute drive.

There’s even a bus that goes directly to the Falkirk Asda. Although fitting a ‘big shop’ on a bus isn’t feasible, the supermarket also delivers to the Stirling area. Far more convenient if it weren’t for those pesky item substitutions.

The proposed location is south of the Wickes DIY store, on a piece of land called Crookbridge, which is only a couple of minutes away from Morrisons. There is little point in having supermarkets so close together, but the plans by Ramoyle Developments were more extensive than just an Asda.

The proposal also included offices, retail, a drive-through restaurant and car parking. Everything about it screams car dependency.

More traffic in that area would be catastrophic. If you dare to go anywhere near the retail park between 4.30pm and 6.00pm you will be spread into a traffic jam sandwich.

There are already four drive through restaurants at Springkerse Retail Park: McDonald’s, Burger King, Costa and Tim Horton’s. Stirling doesn’t need any more, with a total of eight close to the city centre.

Developers could still lodge an appeal. There is no doubt that it would bring needed jobs, but what Stirling really needs is a revived town centre. The Thistles Centre has lost most of its stores. H&M, Zara and Debenhams are long gone, and now Joules faces its doom.

If Asda is desperate for a Stirling location, then it needs to listen to the people. The controversy revolves around how car dependent the site is, so find an alternative. Seek out a unique selling point that fits the needs of the city. There certainly won’t be an Asda-shaped hole in Stirling’s heart otherwise.