QUESTIONS were being asked this week over a missing hedgerow which was supposed to have been planted to screen the view of Lidl’s new supermarket on the entrance to Wellington.

Lidl was given planning permission for the store beside the Cades roundabout in April, 2022, on condition it replaced hundreds of feet of mature hedgerow along Taunton Road and Nynehead Road which it ripped out.

Construction work started in June, 2022, and the hedge planting was supposed to take place in ‘the first available planting season following’, which would have been the autumn of that year.

The new boundary hedgerows were supposed to be maintained at a height of between five and six feet and trimmed annually.

But local campaigner Beth Hill, who is an NHS healthcare assistant, this week highlighted the absence of any screening hedge more than three years later, and the lack of planning enforcement action by Somerset Council.

The mature hedgerow and trees which were later ripped out by Lidl when it built a supermarket on the edge of Wellington.
Mature hedgerow and trees which were later ripped out by Lidl when it built a supermarket on the edge of Wellington. (Google Maps)

Ms Hill, who is the Labour candidate in an upcoming Rockwell Green by-election for a seat on the town council, said: “Wellington is a town that embraces wildlife in its green spaces.

“A reinstatement of the removed hedgerow would be great for the local wildlife.”

Labour town Cllr Mike McGuffie, who objected at the time Lidl grubbed out the mature hedgerows, said the effect had been to destroy the countryside approach to Wellington and make the supermarket a highly visible blot on the landscape.

Cllr McGuffie said the company clearly wanted its store to be seen by passing traffic with little regard to the local environment.

He backed the concern of Ms Hill and said: “Replacing the hedgerow will improve the view and the look and feel of the approach to Wellington, as a country town.

“It will also replace nature diversity recovery that was lost, by providing a habitat for birds, mice, and insects.

“A greener environment and nature gives health and wellbeing advantages for residents.

“Replacing the hedgerow should be a priority, as it will take at least a decade to re-grow.

Lidl's approved landscaping plans which should have been followed when it built a new store on the edge of Wellington.
Lidl's approved landscaping plans which should have been followed when it built a new store on the edge of Wellington. (One Design Architects)

“Both Beth and I would like to see it done as soon as possible.”

Cllr McGuffie said the entrance to Wellington could also be improved if Lidl’s totem pole sign was moved from next to Cades roundabout to the store entrance off Nynhead Road, with trees which previously stood on the spot being replaced.

He said: “This would make a better view on the approach into town.”

The Wellington Weekly has approached Somerset Council for comment but it said it was prioritising media calls on the ongoing efforts in the wake of this week’s Storm Chandra.

Lidl was also contacted and asked for an explanation as to why it had not replaced the hedgerows but did not respond before going to press.

Voting in the Rockwell Green by-election will take place on Tuesday, February 10, between 7 am and 10 pm.

Other candidates who are standing in the by-election for Rockwell Green councillor are: Andrew Denison (Reform UK), George Western (Liberal Democrats), and Edward Yates (Conservative Party).