LIDL is claiming a store it wants to build on a greenfield site between Wellington and Chelston meets ‘convenience store’ criteria, which would help it achieve planning permission.

Europe’s largest supermarket group is seeking to build the shop on land off the Cades Farm roundabout, close to the Longforth Farm housing estate.

In a planning and retail statement prepared by Kate Gapper, an associate with RPS Consulting Services, of Cardiff, the firm said a convenience store was acceptable because the site was within Wellington’s ‘settlement boundary’.

Ms Gapper said Lidl was not a supermarket in planning terms but a ‘limited assortment discounter’ (LAD), a classification also shared by rivals Aldi.

She said a LAD was a category of retailer distinct from mainstream operators such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s.

As such, the proposed Lidl would be a ‘neighbourhood foodstore’ capable of meeting both ‘day-to-day top up and main food shopping needs of local residents’.

Wellington Town Council will discuss the planning application at its meeting on Monday (October 5) and decide on a recommendation to be put to the district council, which has until December 16 to determine it.

See the the full story in this week’s Wellington Weekly News.