Lidl wants to build a bigger second supermarket in Southport than the one originally planned.
The firm was granted planning permission for a 1,900 sq m store alongside eight employment units on land west of Marine Drive, north Of Crossens Way, in Crossens, in August 2022.
The chain now wants fresh planning permission to increase the size of the footprint of its new supermarket by 14%.
The development would create up to 90 new jobs, including 30 at Lidl and up to 60 at the new business units.
The new plans would see a reduction in accessible parking spaces from 10 to six.
New gross floorspace would be 2,172 sq m, with 1,512 sq m net floorspace plus convenience and comparison goods sales floorspace of 1,210 sq m and 302 sq m respectively.
Lidl already has a site at 4-18 Virginia Street in the town.
A planning application to Sefton Council by Plan A, on behalf of Lidl Great Britain Limited and Saltmarsh Estates Limited, says: “Since planning permission was granted in August 2022, Lidl has updated its store specification to provide for a more spacious internal shopping environment, resulting in an increase in the net and gross floorspace of the store building, and to provide a wider car park aisle to the rear of the store to assist HGV reversing manoeuvres on to the delivery dock.
“The revisions seek consent for a modest (14%) increase in the size of the approved foodstore and appropriate revisions to its external areas in order to accommodate the larger building footprint.
Lidl has submitted plans for a new supermarket on Marine Drive in Southport
“The additional sales floorspace will provide a qualitative enhancement to the internal shopping environment, to include the repositioning of the in-store bakery counter adjacent to the store entrance, the provision of a larger circulation area on entry to the store and around the bakery counter, and an increase in the width of the sales area by approximately 1.3m to allow increased aisle widths between display shelves.
“The store will offer an identical product range and choice as that previously approved.
“The increase in the footprint of the building will be accommodated within the site by moving the customer car park closer towards Crossens Way, with a resultant decrease in the area of landscaping proposed between the two vehicular points of access. It will also be necessary to relocate the electricity sub-station further south west along the frontage to Crossens Way, which will result in the loss of one parking space to accommodate the substation and provide access to it.
“The car park will be subject to modest amendments to its layout and demarcation, a reduction in the number of accessible spaces and the repositioning or the Parent & Child spaces.
“The proposed increase in the scale of the store will not have any material effect upon the traffic generation characteristics of the approved foodstore. It will certainly not result in a development that has a significant impact upon the local highway network, and will not give rise to any highway safety issues.
“The approved development scheme provides for 111 car parking spaces in total, to include 10 accessible spaces, 10 Parent & Child spaces and 2 Electric Vehicle Charging spaces. The increase in the building footprint has had a direct implication upon the residual area within the site that is available to accommodate parking and landscaping and re-located electricity sub-station. As a result, the parking offer has been re-arranged to provide 110 spaces in total, to include 6 accessible spaces, 9 Parent & Child spaces and 2 Electric Vehicle Charging Spaces. A dedicated space is also included to provide access to the sub-station.
“The 1-space reduction in the overall level of parking provision is negligible and is highly unlikely to result in off-site parking issues. Whilst the revised proposals will deliver 4 fewer accessible spaces, the 6 spaces proposed aligns with the Council’s Parking Standards.”
Lidl already operates a store on Virginia Street on the edge of Southport town centre, but has been keen to open its second venture in the town on the northern edge of the resort where there is limited competition.
The firm said: “Lidl has had a requirement to deliver a new store to serve the residential areas in northern Southport for many years.
“Potential options have been explored but the company has been unable to identify a site of a suitable size that is available for retail development, with it being the case that the scale of potential sites is simply too small, or the land is reserved for residential development.”
The new Lidl store would also serve customers in local Lancashire communities in Banks, Hesketh Bank and Tarleton.
The land was previously earmarked for employment use. But a lack of sufficient interest meant that developers believed that a hybrid use between a Lidl supermarket and eight business units was the best answer.
Lidl’s Regional Head of Property, Stuart Jardine, said: “Our existing Southport store is very popular and we have been looking for the right site to bring a second store to the town for some time.”
Do you have a story for Stand Up For Southport? Do you need advertising, PR or media support? Please message Andrew Brown via Facebook here or email me at: mediaandrewbrownn@gmail.com
