Shropshire Star

Lidl accuses Waitrose in Shrewsbury store wars row

Shrewsbury's store wars have continued with Lidl saying that rivals Waitrose have offered no guarantees their store will be built – despite asking the council to reject plans for the budget store.

Published

Lidl, which wants to build on land at Shrewsbury Football Club, has accused Waitrose of "procrastination" over its plans for a supermarket on a neighbouring site.

It comes after Waitrose wrote to Shropshire Council calling on it to throw out an application for the new Lidl store, or put their development at risk.

Waitrose already has planning permission to build a 30,000 sq ft store next to Percy Thrower's Wyevale Garden Centre on Oteley Road.

However, the project, which was due to be completed by the end of 2014, has stalled and Waitrose says it is not yet in a position to say whether the development will ever go ahead.

Now Chris Smith from Plan A has written to Shropshire Council on behalf of Lidl, saying that a new store would have no impact on the company's existing Shrewsbury store, urging it to reject Waitrose's plea.

He said: "Lidl can confirm that the viability of the Harlescott Lane store will not be threatened by the Oteley Road proposal in any way and no jobs will be lost at the existing store. On the contrary, it is Lidl's intention to invest in the Harlescott Lane store as part of a multi-million pound nationwide programme of store improvements to be delivered by 2020. This investment is likely to create additional jobs at the Harlescott Lane store.

"The proposed Lidl store has not singularly brought the viability of the approved Waitrose into question. If the Lidl scheme were to be refused planning permission, as HOW recommends, Waitrose still does not offer any guarantee to deliver the approved Waitrose store.

"Lidl is committed to opening a store on Oteley Road in 2017, guaranteeing the creation of up to 40 new jobs. Lidl's investment and job creation should not be put on hold while Waitrose procrastinates."

He concludes that no evidence has been presented which demonstrates 'that the proposed Lidl store may prejudice the viability of the Waitrose commitment on Oteley Road'.

Last month, Ken Harrison, acquisitions and development manager at Waitrose, said: "I am still unable to say when the new store will be built, or indeed whether we would want to vary the application to improve its viability, but what is certain is that if the council approve the Lidl planning application, as a result of the impact it will have on our trade, it will seriously jeopardise the chances of this store happening."

The matter will be discussed at a forthcoming meeting of Shropshire Council's planning committee.

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.