Council to 'stand firm' on John Lewis

The issue was raised at Tuesday's Monthly council meeting when Councillor Ronnie Crawford informed members that John King, the head of House of Fraser, who was present at the controversial meeting at which Lisburn councillors brought their protest to Belfast, will be attending a conference in the Stormont Hotel; an event four Lisburn councillors will be attending.

Speaking on the issue, Councillor Paul Butler warned that John Lewis could walk away from the project should the argument rage on much longer.

Mr Butler said: "The danger now is that there is another legal challenge. If this latest legal challenge holds up the inquiry, John Lewis could walk away; and nobody could blame them. They have had to put up with political challenges, legal challenges for six years."

Alderman Ivan Davis, who attended the protest by Lisburn at Belfast City Hall, added: "One thing I was pleased with was that at long last this council was showing a bit of bite. It should have been done so a long time ago and we should do it more often. We are continually pressing colleagues in Belfast to catch themselves on; John Lewis don't want to go to Belfast and we're not going to tolerate this any longer.

"We need to stand up at every opportunity for Lisburn. What's coming down the line in October unless we fight for Lisburn? We've already been done out of the Maze stadium. John Lewis will get so fed up they'll walk away; we can't lose John Lewis."

Councillor Jonathan Craig continued: "What John Lewis is proposing here is for all of Northern Ireland, and beyond that for Ireland. The other part of the application is for an All-Ireland distribution site, this is not only affecting Lisburn, it is detrimental to the entire economy of all Northern Ireland."

The Mayor, Alderman Paul Porter, who led the fight for Lisburn in Belfast in August, stated: "We must stand firm and pressure our colleagues in Belfast."