Home » UK Business News » Asda and Lidl fight over plans to bulldoze Hereford hotel for a new supermarket

Asda and Lidl fight over plans to bulldoze Hereford hotel for a new supermarket

By Nagasunder in UK Business News, posted October 17, 2022

Asda has stated that Lidl should not be allowed to demolish the Three Counties Hotel in Hereford.

They intend to build a new shop because of traffic concerns

The supermarket chains are at odds over the plans.

The Belmont Road hotel would be demolished as a result of this.

Later, it would be replaced by a new Lidl supermarket.

In addition, there are preliminary plans for a drive-thru coffee shop.

If the council approves the plans, the hotel will be demolished and replaced by a Lidl.

A right turn lane will be added to Belmont Road to accommodate approximately 2,500 two way car trips per day.

Foot and bike paths would also be expanded.

However, Asda, which has a large supermarket on Belmont Road near Greyfriars Bridge,

Has previously criticised the plans, claiming that the hotel should not be demolished because it is still a working business.

Jigsaw Planning's Katherine Sneeden speaking on behalf of Asda said that would be against planning policy, and she also argued that Lidl had stated that it is a "deep discounter," but that this was no longer the case.

Lidl has since responded, claiming that the Competition Commission, Inspectors, and Secretary of State have explicitly recognised that limited assortment discounters, such as Lidl, provide distinct quality and value benefits.

Asda's third objection was that the loss of trees was also unacceptable.

TPS transport expert Charlotte Green has reviewed Lidl's transport assessment and identified what it believes to be major flaws - and how the planning application should be denied on highway grounds.

She claimed that delivery trucks faced an "increased risk of collision" when turning left out of the site and that there was insufficient information about how delivery vehicles could safely leave.

TPS also stated that there had been no analysis of how lorries would safely navigate the proposed new car park for the supermarket.

Ms. Green also criticised the lack of cycle parking, claiming that only 12 of the required 24 spaces were provided and that the traffic data used in Lidl's assessment of its impact was from the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Despite this, the proposed site access junction is expected to be overcrowded, and more information about how the new shop would impact the A49/A465 junction and the roundabout to the southwest of the site, near Belmont Tesco, was required.

Locals have been outspoken in their opposition to the plans, citing everything from traffic problems on the main road to the fact that Hereford doesn't need another supermarket, with Tesco and Asda already nearby.

The planning department at Herefordshire Council has yet to make a decision on the plans, but public consultation has ended.

Source: Hereford times

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