LIDL has submitted its plans for a new supermarket opposite Waitrose in Keynsham.
The discount retailer is seeking permission to demolish two buildings on Broadmead Lane, currently occupied by Jewson and Glenavon Timber, and replace them with a store and car park.
The full application follows an earlier bid by Lidl for demolition only. Bath & North East Somerset Council refused that request, citing insufficient information about the potential impact on protected species, including bats.
The proposal comes soon after rival Aldi was granted permission by B&NES Council to build a supermarket at the nearby Brincliffe Nursery site on the A4 Bath Road.
But Lidl remains committed to its own scheme, saying that hundreds of residents supported the proposals during consultation and describing Broadmead Lane as “the best location for a modern discount supermarket to serve Keynsham.”
Lidl says the Broadmead Lane site is closer to the town centre than Aldi’s approved location and more in keeping with existing retail and commercial activity.
It says the cumulative impact on the town centre of its proposed store and the approved Aldi would remain within acceptable limits. Most trade diverted to the two discount supermarkets would come from Tesco, which Lidl says is trading well above its company average.
The application includes plans for landscaping, drainage and servicing, as well as a 135-space car park with nine disabled bays, nine parent-and-child spaces and two rapid-charging spaces for electric vehicles.
The proposed opening hours are 7am to 10pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sundays.
The development would also include pedestrian-friendly access points and cycle parking.
The existing junction into the site from Broadmead Lane would be widened to nine metres, with a single-lane exit.
A new pedestrian link would be provided to the Broadmead Lane and Ashmead Road junction, directing customers towards the store entrance.
Access to Glenavon Timber from Ashmead Road would be closed and replaced with a public footway, while a footway and cycleway would be provided on both sides of the carriageway along the new access road.
A transport assessment accompanying the application says the foodstore is not expected to generate a significant increase in new trips on the local highway network. It says most traffic would transfer from other food shops in Keynsham and the wider area, or divert from the A4, resulting in a redistribution of existing journeys.
Lidl says the store would create 40 jobs.
The B&NES Council planning reference is 26/02094/FUL. The deadline for comments is August 13.
One comment received stated: “We have no objection to the proposed food store but this will no doubt add even more traffic to the area.”
Lidl takes next step with Keynsham store plan
