Lidl to appeal refusal for Tadley store

The fight for a new Lidl supermarket at Tadley has resumed with an appeal by the retailer.

West Berkshire Council’s district planning committee refused an application for a store on land south of Ravenspring Farm at its July meeting last year despite almost 7,000 representations in favour of it.

The meeting heard Lidl had received 5,531 responses to its consultation, 93.9 per cent of them in favour, while the council received 1,141 representations, of which 92 per cent were in favour.

The site is on the edge of West Berkshire although most of Tadley falls under Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council. The application was refused on grounds of the development being on a greenfield site outside of any defined settlement boundary and for its visual impact.

Following its decision to appeal, Lidl has issued a statement. It reads: “We were disappointed with the decision from West Berkshire Council and can confirm we have appealed the decision.

“We strongly believe that the local community of Tadley will benefit from a new Lidl store, with access to high quality affordable food and new jobs being created for the area.

“We would like to take this opportunity to thank the local community for their unprecedented levels of support so far.”

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