THE planning department at Somerset West and Taunton Council is likely to be swamped with emails and letters from people in the Wellington area supporting the proposed Lidl supermarket development on the outskirts of the town.

Wellington Town Council is against the idea but thousands have backed the plans through a petition and now the supermarket chain is urging supporters to contact the district council.

Lidl Great Britain regional head of property Matthias Daly, in a letter to supporters, says: “Thank you for the support that you have demonstrated towards Lidl’s proposed development in Wellington.

“You are one of 4,882 local residents that have registered support for the application via the support petition. We appreciate your support and your valuable feedback.

“In demonstrating the support to the council’s planning department, personal letters and emails carry significantly more weight than the petition and would be an emphatic display of support for the application.

“Therefore, we would appreciate if you could write directly to the council voicing your support of our application at either the below addresses, quoting our application number 43/20/0086: Planning Department, Somerset West and Taunton Council, Deane House, Belvedere Road, Taunton, Somerset TA1 2HE or [email protected]

“This would clearly demonstrate to the council that the local community wants this development to go ahead and therefore could make a huge difference to the outcome of the planning application, so please make your voice heard while you still have the chance.”

Last month members of Wellington Town Council’s planning committee voiced concerns about the proposal to build the store on land at the Cades Farm roundabout in Taunton Road when they met in a Zoom video conference.

Although local councillors voted against the proposals, a final decision rests with Somerset West and Taunton Council.

Local planners see the benefits of a Lidl-style store in Wellington but are not happy about the proposed location.

Find out about planning applications that affect you by visiting the Public Notice Portal.

The new Lidl would create about 40 jobs, equivalent to 23 full-time employees.