East Ayrshire Council has responded to M&S's public plea for support for its planning application for a new food store in Kilmarnock, saying it is awaiting further information from the retailer.
The company plans to close its King Street store in March 2027 and open a food store at Queen's Drive Retail Park, with an opening mooted for summer 2027. M&S has set up a bespoke website to encourage locals to show support and lobby the council, with retail bosses pointing out that the application "is yet to receive approval."
Council's unusual response
In an unusual step, David Mitchell, acting depute chief executive of East Ayrshire Council, responded to the active planning application. He said: "While it is not our usual practice to comment on any application which is yet to come before the East Ayrshire Planning Committee, we can confirm that we are currently awaiting further information from the applicant before we can complete our assessment of the proposals put forward by the company and progress to a planning decision."
It is not clear what information the council is waiting for. David Anderson, M&S regional manager, previously said he hopes to "receive a swift planning determination so we can move forward with our plans."
Jobs and town centre impact
M&S says the opening of the food store will safeguard 71 jobs. The King Street store accounts for almost one fifth of the total retail turnover in the town centre, according to estimates produced in the absence of an up-to-date retail study for Kilmarnock.
Bosses have also stated that regardless of whether the application to build a new food store is successful, the King Street store will close.
