PLANS for an out of town Lidl supermarket which have sparked controversy across Wellington could be approved next week.

District council planners who meet tomorrow (Thursday) are being recommended to grant permission for the 22,500 sq ft store just off the Cades Farm roundabout.

Planning officer Karen Wray admitted in a report to councillors that the development would go against the local plan for the town.

The local plan shows the site allocated for employment use, in particular for the relocation of the town’s two largest employers, Relyon and Swallowfield.

But Mrs Wray considered the benefits of allowing the supermarket outweighed the loss of the employment land.

She said other sites, such as land alongside the M5 access road at Chelston, could be found if the two factories eventually needed to be relocated.

Mrs Wray also did not believe the Lidl supermarket would impact on the ‘vitality and viability’ of Wellington’s town centre.

For the full story see this week’s Wellington Weekly News.