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Lidl expects to open its controversial new store off the Old Thanet Way next summer, KentOnline can exclusively reveal.
The German chain launched a fresh bid to build the 2,125 sq m supermarket on land neighbouring the main road in Herne Bay in November, having had an initial bid rejected last year.
The revised proposals were given the go-ahead in June after members of Canterbury City Council’s planning committee narrowly voted them through by six votes to five.
And now a spokesman for Lidl says the chain is expecting to begin construction in the next three months.
He said: “We received planning permission in June and are due to start on-site before the end of the year, with a view to opening next summer.”
The budget supermarket chain says the new store will create 40 full-time jobs and include 125 parking spaces.
Lidl’s original proposals were rejected by councillors last year on the grounds the store would have been constructed on land designated protected open space in the Local Plan.
Following last year’s vote, the shopping giant lodged an appeal against the decision with the Planning Inspectorate.
But it withdrew the bid to overturn it after the fresh proposals received the go-ahead three months ago.
While drawings for the new shop show it will be built closer to the Greenhill roundabout, parts of the site will still be situated on protected open space.
Wincheap councillor Nick Eden-Green, who opposed the plans, argues the bid should have been refused for that reason.
“My concern is that the Local Plan was very clear in protecting that green gap and it simply drives a coach and horses through that,” he added.
“Given the vote on Lidl, it will be extremely difficult to fight any application for another building along that stretch.
“My fear is you will get all the way down that road a series of buildings which could be anything from takeaways to used-car showrooms, warehouses or supermarkets.
“It was protected because it was felt that we didn’t want to see a joining of Whitstable and Herne Bay. This sort of piecemeal erosion of the green gap – if it continues – could see the towns linked.”
The bid to build the store received a groundswell of support from residents.
The local authority was sent 360 letters of support for the new application from those living close to the site, and just 20 opposing it.
In addition, Lidl says it received more than 4,100 responses to its own public consultation, with almost 84% of them backing the scheme.
West Bay councillor Peter Vickery-Jones, a staunch advocate of the plans, believes the supermarket will significantly benefit those living nearby.
“Based on the number of letters and expressions of support for the scheme from local people, it will have a massive contribution to the area,” he said.
“There’s nothing like this in Greenhill at the moment, and that’s a sad reflection on what we were offering to people who lived in that area.”
