Supermarket wars as Tesco objects to opening of new Lidl store in town

In June last year, discount supermarket chain Lidl submitted plans to open a new store at Pinners Brow Retail Park.

Currently, the site consists of four separate units occupied by Wickes DIY and trade store, which will remain, as well as Sofology, The Jungle children's soft play and Carpet Right.

Lidl has acquired unit four currently occupied by Carpet Right, unit three occupied by The Jungle and a portion of unit two occupied by Sofology Warrington.

It is proposed to reconfigure and extend units two, three and four in order to deliver a Lidl store within units two and three, with The Jungle relocating into the smaller unit two.

As part of the development, certain areas of the existing car park will be modernised to improve parking arrangements and traffic flow around the site.

Despite being submitted more than a year ago, the plans are yet to be decided upon, with three letters of objection submitted by Martin Robeson Planning Practice (MRPP), on behalf of Tesco.

It said: “Our client trades from an Extra Store on Winwick Road, which is located on the edge of the town centre.

“The store was the subject of considerable investment when it opened in 2003, and Tesco continues to invest in Warrington today.”

Objections are over the inadequacy and failure of the sequential assessment, unacceptable loss of parking spaces and the determination of the application under delegated authority.

MRPP said: “The applicant's sequential assessment fails to consider the vacant M&S unit on Sankey Street, significantly located within the primary shopping area.

“That unit has been vacant since 2017 and is currently on the market. The development of the vacant M&S unit would bring significant investment into the town centre.

“Furthermore, the applicant has also failed to consider the former Wilko store located within the primary shopping area within Golden Square Shopping Centre.

“The applicant has not demonstrated that no suitable sites are available in more sequentially preferable locations to that proposed. It should therefore be refused.”

The proposed site of the new Lidl supermarket at Pinners Brow Retail Park. Picture: Google Maps

It also says: “The application also incorporates a rearrangement of the car park, resulting in the retail park's overall parking provision reducing by 13 per cent to only 215 spaces.

“The addition of the estimated parking accumulation of the food store with the existing retail park usage equals a total of 209 spaces.

“This figure is only marginally below the overall quantum of spaces to be provided, and indicates that obtaining a parking space is likely to be a significant challenge for customers in the future.

“In congested situations, drivers are more likely to take risks and manoeuvre into gaps that do not exist. This in turn causes risks for pedestrians.”

In response to the objections, Plan A, on behalf of Lidl, said: “MRPP's claims are poorly conceived. The Lidl business model is fundamentally different to that of M&S.

“Accordingly, the fact M&S previously operated a food hall from the site provides no evidence of the site being suitable to accommodate the applicant's deep discount food retail business model.

“It is also apparent that the M&S business model failed at the Sankey Street store, which it has closed down.

“MRPP fails to acknowledge the fact that the proposed Lidl store will displace two existing retail units, Sofology and CarpetRight.

“The concerns expressed by MRPP with regard to pedestrian safety are without foundation and do not necessitate any revisions to the development proposals.”

It goes on to say: “It is evident that the letters of objection submitted by MRPP constitute a commercial objection from Tesco, a competing food store operator that has a store nearby that it is seeking to protect from competition from the proposed development.

“However, the planning system does not seek to favour one commercial interest over another, and retail policy does not offer the nearby Tesco Extra store any protection from competition from the proposed Lidl store.”

Lidl says its new store would require up to 30 members of staff, with both part-time and full-time roles offered, with the national chain not offering zero-hour contracts.

Planning documents state: “It is expected that the majority, if not all members of staff, will be local people living in the local area.”

Plans state that Lidl looked at six units in Golden Square, as well as units on Cockhedge and Riverside retail parks, but none were deemed big enough or suitable for other reasons.