Shrewsbury Lidl plan faces fresh objection - from an estabilshed supermarket
LIdl's plans for a new Shrewsbury store are facing a fresh objection - this time from an established supermarket.
Lidl UK submitted proposals to Shropshire Council for a site at Oxon, off Welshpool Road, on the outskirts of Shrewsbury earlier this year.
The company wants to build a new supermarket, along with a retail unit, drive-thru, and 11 houses.
The plan has already attracted opposition from the owners of the nearby Oxon Touring and Holiday Home Park, and now it faces fresh calls for the project to be rejected.
The Mid Counties Co-operative, which manages the Bicton Heath Co-op, has submitted a formal objection to the scheme, asking Shropshire Council to turn it down.
The Bicton Heath Co-op is a matter of metres from the potential Lidl site - separated only by the width of Little Oxon Lane.
The Co-op site also hosts a number of other shops, with Co-op acting as an "anchor tenant" for the location.
In a lengthy submission to planners the Mid Counties Co-operative argue that the proposal would "dominate" the area, and would mark a departure from the plans for a local Bicton Heath centre, as part of housing and other developments in the Shrewsbury West Sustainable Urban Extension.
It states: "We respectfully request the council to refuse the application, specifically in relation to the scale of the proposed Lidl supermarket in this location.
"For the avoidance of doubt, The Co-operative supports fair, evidence-based competition in appropriate locations however this application meets neither requirement."
The letter argues that the development would be a "step-change in scale" for the area, "that would dominate, rather than enhance, the role and function of the local centre".
It also suggest that Lidl's own figures show its trade is likely to come from existing supermarket customers - rather than new ones.
It said: "The proposed Lidl must achieve its benchmark turnover largely by redistributing spend from existing stores, with the consequence that those stores are modelled to fall below benchmark to enable the new store to reach it's benchmark turnover.
"Therefore, the proposed Lidl is underpinned by trading redistribution rather than need-led growth."
The letter claims that such a move is against national planning policy.
It also disputes claims that the supermarket would largely draw in people from up to a five-minute drive from the location.
It states: "On the submitted materials, the practical consequence is that the store would attract a broader customer base than a compact neighbourhood draw, with a significant proportion originating to the west along the Welshpool Road/A458 corridor."
The letter says approving the development would represent a "wholesale shift in function of the local centre" - and that it would result in financial losses that would significantly impact the Co-op.
It adds: "The applicant's benchmarking projects 2025 turnover of £11.57m, £10.16m of which is convenience, and a £1.15m convenience diversion from the Co-op (≈9.8 per cent at opening).
"In a local centre whose role and vitality depend on the Co-op as a successful anchor, that degree of diversion is materially significant and, we consider this to be an underestimate, as for the reasons outlined above, we suspect the actual trade diversion associated with the proposed Lidl to be more concentrated in the local area and more disparate over a wider catchment."
The letter also argues that the store will effectively duplicate what is already on offer at the Co-op.
It states: "The applicant confirms that the proposed Lidl would not provide any fresh meat/fish counters, café/restaurant, delicatessen/cheese counter, hot food counter, home delivery, pharmacy, dry-cleaning, Post Office services, photographic shop or mobile phone shop.
"The existing Co-op likewise functions as a neighbourhood convenience store rather than a counter-service offer.
"Its current range is focused on packaged fresh and chilled, produce, in-store bake-off, grocery, wines/beer and tobacco with limited non-food.
"Our judgement is that the proposed Lidl would therefore not materially introduce new retail functions into the centre.
"Instead it would duplicate (and upscale) the convenience offer already provided, and, taken with the applicant's own diversion figures, centralise day-to-day spend into a single operator generating little retail diversity."
A decision on the proposal will be taken at a later date.
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