Plans for Lidl store are given the green light

A derelict site in Todmorden will soon be revived after plans for a Lidl store were given the go ahead.
Site of proposed new Lidl, Hope Street, Todmorden.Site of proposed new Lidl, Hope Street, Todmorden.
Site of proposed new Lidl, Hope Street, Todmorden.

It’s the latest development in a long-running battle for the Hope Street site.

Over the past five years, the eyesore site has been at the centre of a number of planning applications by supermarket giants including Sainsbury’s and Asda.

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The new store, which Lidl has confirmed will open in January 2017, will replace the existing store on Halifax Road which will be closed and let to an “alternative operator”.

The new store will be bigger, taking up 2,779sqm, with a sales floorspace of 1,689sqm.

The plannng officer’s report states: “The additional sales floorspace will be devoted to creating a more generous and attractive shopping environment with more spacious aisles and circulation space.

“The sales area will also provide more checkouts, including self-service tills, than the existing store.

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“The additional non-sales floorspace will provide customer toilet facilities, significant cold storage areas and high-quality staff accommodation.”

The application also includes the provision of a car park with 201 spaces, with a single access point from Halifax Road proposed.

The approval means that two derelict sites in the town would be brought back into use.

In July, plans for an Aldi supermarket at the site of the Abraham Ormerod medical centre and former Olympia cinema on Burnley Road were approved.

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Todmorden town councillor Janet Battye (Lib-Dem, Langfield) said: “I hope that this is good news for Todmorden. This will both start to change the shape of Todmorden town centre – and start to unlock its development which does need to get moving.

“I really do hope that this will be positive and bring more investment into the town – and not detract from what we’ve already got.”

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