DISCOUNT supermarket group Lidl is planning to open a store to serve Wellington – but its chosen site a mile outside is set to cause controversy over luring shoppers away from shops in the town centre.

The proposed development could also include two family-style restaurants, such as a McDonald’s and a KFC, a drive-through coffee store and trade counters.

It has been an open secret for the past several years that Lidl was eyeing Wellington as part of its plans to double its existing portfolio of 760 stores nationwide.

But the firm had been unable to find a suitable town centre location or even a site around the edge of Wellington.

Now it has been revealed the company is in talks with prospective new owners of 32 acres of land at Chelston Roundabout stretching along the east side of the M5 access road.

Foundation Property and Capital (FPC), a family-owned retail developer and green energy business, is close to purchasing the land, which has been marketed by property consultants Alder King.

It would then seek planning permission from Somerset West and Taunton Council to use six acres of the Chelston Heath site for a neighbourhood retail centre.

FPC has been in pre-planning talks with the district council and with Somerset County Council’s highways officers about how access could be achieved either from the A38 or the motorway approach road.

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