Council planners have provisionally given the go-ahead for a possible new Lidl foodstore in Dronfield pending a further discussion about funding for either a puffin or pelican pedestrain crossing near the site.
NE Derbyshire District Council’s planning committee voted by a majority to grant planning permission at a meeting on July 25 for developers Morbaine Ltd to demolish existing buildings at the former Trent Titanium site, off Wreakes Lane, in Dronfield, and build a new Lidl foodstore with car parking.
But the planning committee stressed permission will be subject to the developers considering that a proposed, new pedestrian crossing near the site on Wreakes Lane should be a more expensive puffin or pelican crossing with traffic lights.
A Lidl spokesperson previously stated in a letter to the council: “Lidl is increasingly looking for new opportunities to enhance its representation within the UK, and Dronfield has been a longstanding requirement for the company as our existing representation in Chesterfield and Sheffield cannot meet Dronfield’s needs.”
The spokesperson added: “The former Trent Titanium site is vacant and significantly underutilised. The plans for a new store in Dronfield would secure approximately 35 additional new jobs which will be a fantastic boost for the local area at a time when there is so much economic uncertainty.”
Morbaine plans to build a 1,895 square metre Lidl store on 0.97 hectares of land at the former Trent Titanium site off Wreakes Lane, near Dronfield town centre, along with 100 car parking spaces.
The council planning committee considered a number of issues including safe vehicular access, adequate car parking, the impact of increased traffic for the nearby scout hut and recreation area, and the potential increase in traffic with a Sainsbury’s store access only 200 metres to the south of the site.
It also examined possible concerns about the impact of any extra traffic upon nearby junctions including Wreakes Lane and the Sainsbury’s roundabout, Wreakes Lane and Stubley Hollow, along with Sheffield Road and Wreakes Lane.
And Dronfield Town Council submitted an objection based on concerns about increasing traffic problems by building another foodstore on the same road as the nearby Sainsbury’s store on Wreakes Lane and possibly creating logistical and environmental issues for residents.
But Derbyshire County Council’s highways authority confirmed it does not consider that the Lidl development would lead to a severe or unacceptable highway impact after it felt the relevant junctions could cope with the traffic capacity and it was given assurances about clearer vehicular visibility at the site entrance and car parking capacity.
One ward member has also stated that Sainsbury’s customers use a roundabout at the far end of Wreakes Lane so the combination of the two stores should not pose major problems.
In addition, there were no objections from the county council flooding authority, the Environmental Health Officer, the Coal Authority, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, and Yorkshire Water, subject to various conditions to be fulfilled by the applicant.
Despite a Sainsbury’s store and an Aldi store in Dronfield, Lidl stated that the council’s Retail and Centres Study of April 2018 identified that grocery provision in Dronfield trades well above anticipated levels and there is therefore capacity to support additional floorspace.
The Lidl spokesperson added: “A new Lidl store would help provide greater choice locally and better serve the current and future shopping needs of the established community.
“Accordingly, over the past few years, we have explored opportunities to secure a new modern format Lidl store within the town.
“Given that such opportunities are extremely difficult to come by – particularly those well related to the established centre – we believe that the site now being pursued by Morbaine Ltd represents an excellent opportunity for a new discount foodstore in a highly sustainable location at the heart of the local community.”
Conditions expected from the applicant include the provision of a £6,325 five-year travel plan monitoring fee and £2,880 worth of bus taster tickets for employees to encourage them to use public transport.
And during the committee meeting, the council approved the planning application subject to further consideration of a fresh condition that extra funding should be sought for either a puffin or a pelican crossing.
