Appeal victory clears the way for Lidl and Wickes
70 JOBS WILL BE CREATED IN NEW DEVELOPMENT ON VACANT INDUSTRIAL SITE
A SUPERMARKET and a DIY store will be built on a derelict industrial estate after plans were approved at appeal – more than a year after they were refused.
The application will see a Lidl and Wickes built on the longvacant former Stadium Industrial Park in Nottingham Road, Long Eaton.
The scheme will create 70 new jobs, 40 at Lidl and 30 at Wickes.
In total, the site would have 207 parking spaces, including 12 for disabled motorists and spaces and eight for parents with children.
A separate staff car park would have 11 spaces. The Lidl would be 1,944 square metres and the Wickes would be 1,394 square metres.
The Nottingham Road site, next to Kwik Fit, has been derelict since 2014 when the industrial park was demolished.
Erewash Borough Council planning officials had given an extremely extensive refusal recommendation in October 2019 and the project was subsequently rejected by councillors.
Officers had claimed the stores had the capability of being a “category killer” in terms of town centre trades, such as DIY supplies, bakers, butchers and greengrocers.
Officers said, if approved, the development could “trigger a further spiral of decline” in the town centre with a preference to see other sites developed instead.
Shortly after its plans were rejected in 2019, Lidl said 298 local residents had written to them saying they wanted the development to go ahead.
Lidl and Clowes Developments, submitted an appeal on the last day of the six-month period in which an appeal can be lodged against the refused scheme.
It was also a week after an alternative site, the former Focus DIY store on Main Street, which planners had directed the developers to, was signed to a 10-year lease under another owner.
Government planning inspectors have overturned the council’s refusal, saying the two stores would only divert a small proportion of trade from Long Eaton town centre and that the town’s retail was “robust enough” to withstand the impact.
The developers said that Long Eaton had the appearance of a healthy town centre, which was upheld by the inspector.
Steve Birkinshaw, the council’s head of planning and regeneration, reacting to the appeal decision, wrote: “In relation to retail impact, it is clear that inspectors will always accept the professional view of a retail consultant over those of local planning officers, and that this extends to the retail interpretation of any evidence provided, however compelling it may appear.
“It is also the case that for retail impact to be considered significant, a significant portion of town centre turnover has to be diverted.
“The proposed Lidl supermarket and Wickes DIY superstore were simply not big enough to be regarded as a serious threat to Long Eaton town centre.
“On the basis of this appeal, a retail impact reason for refusal could only be upheld for a much larger retail development, e.g. a new shopping centre.
“It is also clear that the economic benefits of new superstores weigh heavily in the planning balance, such that aesthetic considerations such as local character, however valid, are unlikely to be sufficient to outweigh them.”
During the debate on the October 2019 refusal, a representative from Asda said they did not object to the competition, but said the Nottingham Road site was “inappropriate” and could “harm the future of the town centre”.
An agent for the developers said the scheme would generate £3.5 million for the local economy each year and would be an improvement on the current site’s use and negative visual impact.
Councillors felt the development would “exacerbate” the decline of the town centre, with residents fearing the impact on health and safety on streets near the site
Other councillors and residents welcomed the use of long-derelict site and competition for other supermarkets in the area. Long Eaton already has large Tesco and Asda supermarkets and an Aldi store.
Officers had said that the council’s aim for the site was for housing “to rehouse the 173 households who will be made homeless by the demolitions currently proposed by HS2 Ltd”.
Lidl was approached for comment but deferred to Clowes who had not yet responded at the time of this article’s publication.