Council officers have recommended the plans are approved
The new store is set to get planning permission next week.
Stockport could be about to get a new supermarket following a legal bust-up between Tesco and Lidl. Lidl bosses want to open a new store at 111 Wellington Road North in Heaton Norris, near the town centre.
The land was once home to a Mercedes Benz car dealership and showroom, but is currently out of use. The site is next to Sparthfield Road, which is where cars would access the proposed new shop. The plans include creating 98 car parking spaces.
Councillors are meeting on July 28 at the Heatons and Reddish area committee to discuss the development, which is expected to be approved.
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The council had already given permission for a foodstore at the site in November 2022, but Tesco challenged this decision through the courts.
A Tesco Extra store is located nearby on Tiviot Way, near Portwood roundabout. According to planning reports, Tesco questioned whether an ‘error’ was made when assessing other available and preferable sites which Lidl could use for its proposed new supermarket, including a store on New Bridge Lane which is currently used by Aldi.
Tesco lost its case but made an appeal, which was heard at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. It was deemed there was ‘no error of law’ in Stockport council’s decision.
Lidl then submitted a new planning application for a ‘marginally different’ development at the Wellington Road site, with a slightly bigger building at 2,207 sqm.
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A planning statement from Stockport council reads: “It is clearly a site that benefits from a reasonable level of accessibility, being well served by public transport, and the development will deliver improved crossing facilities on the A6 and enable significant improvements to cycle infrastructure to be delivered in the future.
“It is also concluded that the consequent traffic impact of development would not give rise to a severe effect on highway operation or unacceptable effect on highway safety, that the development has acceptable access arrangements and can accommodate the necessary parking and servicing needs so as not to give rise to highway operation and safety concerns.”
Stockport council officers have recommended that Lidl’s plans be approved at the meeting next week.