Following positive community consultation, Lidl has submitted a planning application to Cheltenham Borough Council for a new foodstore in Charlton Kings, on the site of the former Charlton Kings Industrial Estate, off Cirencester Road.
This website provides details of the proposals. If you have any questions about the proposals, please email scott@royalpilgrim.com or call 0800 089 0361.
We are aware that a small number of shops and services on Lyefield Road West have concerns about Lidl opening a new store in Charlton Kings and we would like to address those concerns here.
The proposed Lidl store offer has limited crossover with local shops, and we expect it to complement local retailers rather than compete with them, with Lidl shoppers supplementing their shopping at the proposed store with other local purchases. Our aspiration is that we would like to encourage Charlton Kings residents to shop locally rather than feel the need to drive to a larger supermarket across town.
We can say with the certainty of many years’ experience that Lidl stores tend to compete primarily with other main food shopping destinations, not local shops. Nor do our stores accommodate Post Offices, customer cafes or coffee shops. Lidl sells a very limited range of flowers, over-the-counter medicines and newspapers and magazines. Lidl do not sell postage stamps, cigarettes, National Lottery tickets or scratch cards, single confectionery items and similar products. Furthermore, Lidl does not have an in-house pharmacy, fishmongers or meat counter, services which are often found in larger supermarkets.
Unlike the larger supermarkets, the which typically stock in the region of 25,000-30,000 lines, Lidl’s product range is limited to just 2,500 items and mainly comprises own brand goods. A Retail Impact Assessment is not required under planning policy for a store of the limited size that Lidl is proposing.
The site was formerly occupied by an employment use class. Since becoming vacant, the site has been extensively marketed without generating any commercial interest. Our proposals aim to rejuvenate this vacant, redundant, brownfield site. The proposed foodstore would deliver employment on this site and we believe it would be a suitable occupier in this prominent location.
The site is currently occupied by vacant and dilapidated industrial units, comprising a former industrial estate. Lidl aims to regenerate this brownfield site, create jobs and provide a neighbourhood foodstore.
Lidl has made some amendments to the proposals following feedback, including the addition of a new pedestrian footpath connecting the store to Cirencester Road and dedicated motorcycle parking spaces.
If approved, Lidl will begin construction immediately to build their latest spec, sympathetically designed supermarket in Charlton Kings. The proposals include:
Our planning application will include a detailed Transport Assessment, which will be
reviewed by Gloucestershire County Council’s Highways Team. The Transport Assessment will take into
consideration issues such as Lidl’s expected busiest periods.
The site is well-located for pedestrians.
Secure cycle parking for staff and customers is proposed in a well-monitored
location, close to the store entrance. The site is well-connected to the local cycle network,
which will enable cycling as a substitute for short car trips.
The site is well-located for the bus network, close to several local bus stops on Cirencester Road.
Everyone knows we’re Lidl on price. So, it’s time to tell you what we’re Big on.
We’re Big on Quality. Big on the big shop. Big on all the things that matter. Big on the things that make cupboards and bellies and life feel fuller. Big on detergent that gets your socks white and cheese that knocks them off. Big on carrots that crunch and chillies with bite. Big on cuisine from far and wide, and meat from local farmers. Big on brands and biscuits and baby stuff and bicycle pumps and butter. We’re Big on everything.
Except of course, on price, because that’s where we’ll always be Lidl.
Lidl first opened its doors in Great Britain in 1994 and currently has over 24,500 employees, 800 stores and 13 distribution centres in England, Scotland and Wales. Lidl takes pride in providing top quality products at the lowest prices.
The Lidl retail philosophy is focused on simplicity and maximum efficiency at every stage of the business, from supplier to customer, enabling the company to sell high quality own brand products at the lowest prices
Lidl is committed to sourcing high quality fresh meat, poultry, fruit and veg from British farms. We work closely with Red Tractor to ensure that our British meat, poultry, fruit and veg is responsibly sourced to strict food hygiene, animal welfare and environmental standards, with every pack traceable to the farm of origin. This guarantees our customers a fresh, locally sourced, high quality range of meat and poultry at excellent value.
Lidl GB sells over 50 different Fairtrade certified products, from bananas originating from Colombia, tea picked in Kenya and cocoa for our chocolate, grown in Cote d’Ivoire. In addition to the products we sell all year round, we proudly support specific Fairtrade campaigns such as Fairtrade Fortnight. This is an opportunity to give a voice to farmers and growers throughout the world.
The new Charlton Kings store would feature our famous ‘Middle of Lidl’ products. Our ever-changing middle aisle offers customers the opportunity to purchase non-food household items at bargain prices. Click here to see this week’s offers.
The proposed store will meet Lidl’s high sustainability standards which are intended to minimise environmental impact over the lifetime of the store.
For more details on Lidl’s sustainability commitments, click here.
A full planning application for the new Lidl supermarket has been submitted to Cheltenham Borough Council, who will make a decision on whether to approve the store proposals.
If you want our project to be successful, it is vitally important that you make your views known so that they can be taken into account when the Council’s Planning Committee decides whether to approve or refuse the application.
If you are keen to see a new neighbourhood foodstore in Charlton Kings, please indicate your support for the application on the feedback form (click here). Alternatively you can email scott@royalpilgrim.com.
As with all developments there will be people who are for and people who are against the development and it is very important that everyone has their say. We would ask those people who have concerns about the proposals to contact us by (clicking here) and completing a feedback form. We will then seek to address these wherever possible.
The following points are considered to be ‘planning issues’: