Full text:
We write on behalf of our client, Lidl Great Britain Limited (‘Lidl’), in response to the above Scoping
Consultation currently being undertaken by Cheshire East Council (‘the Council’).
Lidl is a substantial and growing presence in the UK convenience retail market, with over 1,000
stores currently trading and more than 35,000 employees. The retailer is investing significantly in
the UK, as part of its ongoing expansion programme.
In addition to replacing its existing store at Chester Road in Middlewich with a modern foodstore
nearby, Lidl is keen to deliver new stores in the following settlements across the borough:
1.
Alderley Edge
2. Alsager
3. Congleton
4. Crewe – North
5. Crewe – South
6. Handforth
7. Holmes Chapel
8. Knutsford
9. Macclesfield – North
10. Macclesfield – South
11. Nantwich
12. Poynton
13. Sandbach
14. Wilmslow (South)
With the above in mind, Lidl is keen to ensure that the emerging Local Plan facilitates sustainable
retail investment in the area and aligns with national planning policy.
Town Centres
Having reviewed the Council’s current consultation document, we note the Council’s
acknowledgment of changing town centre trends.
It is Lidl’s view that over the past 10 to 20 years, the food retail sector has undergone a significant
shift. The majority of food shopping is now undertaken in mid- to large-format foodstores, many
of which are located outside of town centres. These formats are often unsuited to central locations due to their size, parking requirements, and catchment-driven shopping patterns. As a result, the
primary impact of new foodstore development tends to fall on existing edge- or out-of-centre
facilities, rather than on retailers trading within defined town centres.
It is essential that food retail requirements are aligned with wider policy objectives to ensure that
local communities have convenient access to affordable foodstore provision close to where they
live and work. Ensuring that retail impact thresholds are proportionate and responsive to local
circumstances will help support sustainable patterns of development, reduce the need to travel,
and maintain a competitive and accessible food retail offer for residents.
Given this context, the risk of significant adverse impacts arising from a new foodstore of less than
2,500 square metres in an edge or out-of-centre location is generally considered to be low. The
adoption of a 2,500 square metre threshold would provide an appropriate safeguard against larger
format schemes that may have a greater potential to harm town centre vitality, while ensuring that
smaller, well-located proposals are not subject to disproportionate policy hurdles.
It is common for local authorities to adopt the national default threshold set out in the NPPF,
particularly in the context of food retail. With this in mind, Lidl considers that a specific threshold
for food retail development, set at 2,500 square metres, should be introduced within the emerging
Local Plan, in line with the NPPF.
Such an approach would ensure that the emerging Local Plan policy is both proportionate and
effective, supporting sustainable growth while continuing to protect the function and viability of
defined centres.
Health and wellbeing
Lidl is dedicated to providing its customers with access to healthy, affordable food. The retailer’s
continual investment in keeping prices low means that customers shopping at Lidl can always
expect to pay the lowest possible prices for the fresh fruit and vegetables, healthy cupboard
staples, and nutritionally-balanced foods needed to eat a healthy and balanced diet.
It is vital that appropriate provision is made within the emerging Local Plan so that food retail needs
can be met in a way that is aligned with the wider development needs of the borough. This may
include locations which are outside of existing town centres, in locations which are easily
accessible to existing or planned residential neighbourhoods.
If significant new residential development is coming forward which requires community facilities
and public service infrastructure, in many cases, additional food retail provision is also required to
meet the needs of these new residents and the potential increased population of a settlement.
By way of example, a 2,000-dwelling housing requirement and its associated population, would
create enough convenience retail expenditure to support a new Lidl store. The current consultation
documents states that using the revised method, Cheshire East’s housing need is 2,530 dwellings
per annum. Based on this level of housing need, there is a requirement for at least one new Lidl
foodstore for each year of the emerging plan period up to 2045.
It is Lidl’s view that the emerging Local Plan should address the quantum and type of development
which is required to be brought forward to meet the area’s future development needs in full. It is
important that retail development needs can be appropriately met, especially given the importance
of food retail to the functioning of the country and the vital role retailers such as Lidl perform in
providing sustainable access to healthy, affordable food for communities.
Employment and economy
As the fifth-biggest supermarket in the UK, Lidl is a key national employer. As detailed in the latest
version of The Lidl Effect Report (enclosed), Lidl invested £474m across Great Britain in new stores
and distribution centres. In 2024, £14.5bn Gross Value Added (GVA) was generated by Lidl and its
supply chain.
Lidl creates around 40 full-time equivalent (FTE) new jobs per store, aligned with the Living Wage
Foundation rate for all eligible employees, and without the use of zero-hour contracts. It is evident
that Lidl stores can deliver a significant contribution to job creation across the borough.
To ensure that investment and jobs are attracted into the borough, it is Lidl’s view that there should
be flexibility around the types of uses which are permitted within safeguarded and allocated
employment sites. The approach adopted must be consistent with national planning reforms to
allow greater flexibility in land use planning, following the introduction of Class E (Commercial,
Business and Service) into the Use Class Order which came into force in September 2020.
It is clear that the Government regards Class E uses as employment generating economic uses. In
many cases, Class E uses have the propensity to create more jobs and bring greater economic
benefits than a Class B use of comparable size. There is, therefore, sense and logic in grouping
Class E uses with Class B uses.
On this basis, Lidl suggests that all Class E uses should be explicitly supported within safeguarded
and allocated employment sites.
Local plan evidence base
We are pleased that the Consultation Document acknowledges the importance of reliable and up
to date evidence to provide the justification for proposals in the local plan. To the effect we note
that paragraph 5.75 of the Consultation Document states that “supporting evidence is expected
to include a Retail Study and Town Centre Health Checks” [Our emphasis].
It is vital that Local Plan evidence is robustly prepared and fit for purpose, particularly where the
evidence informs the town centre hierarchy and extents, as well as the quantum and type of
development which is required to be brought forward to meet the area’s future development
needs.
It is Lidl’s view that the Council should update its retail and town centre evidence base so that
there is a clear and up-to-date position in relation to the need for future retail development across
Cheshire East, which aligns with the emerging plan period.
Summary
Lidl has a significant interest in bringing forward new stores within Cheshire East and welcomes
the preparation of the emerging Local Plan, as a mechanism to provide an effective planning
framework to guide future development in the area.
Lidl’s stores bring a wide range of benefits to the communities they serve. These include:
• Providing high-quality products at the lowest possible prices;
• Delivering a modern and convenient shopping experience for local residents;
• Improving customer choice in the areas where they trade;
Constructing buildings of sustainable, high-quality design with well-integrated
landscaping; and
• Creating construction jobs, as well as around 40 FTE new jobs per store, aligned with the
Living Wage Foundation rate for all eligible employees, and without the use of zero-hour
contracts.
Lidl hopes that the comments made in this representation are helpful as the Council progresses
its emerging Local Plan. We would be grateful if you could ensure that we are kept informed as
the Council progresses the new Local Plan.
Enclosures:
• Enclosure 1 – The Lidl Effect Report: Lidl GB’s Socioeconomic Impact
