Conservationists believe the support of residents for a Lidl store in Herne Bay should be ignored because they have “no concept or even knowledge” of the importance of the site.

The budget chain has submitted fresh plans for a new supermarket on land near the Greenhill roundabout, having had an initial bid rejected last year.

Since then, the city council has received many letters from residents supporting the scheme.

But, in a missive sent to the local authority, Barrie Gore, the chairman of the Canterbury branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), says their opinions should be “discounted”.

“The applicant is noted for excellent orchestration of residents in the vicinity of its proposed sites, and this application is no exception,” he said.

“We say that the wishes of residents to have a Lidl superstore on their doorsteps should be discounted as, almost without exception, it is clear they have... no concept or even knowledge of the designation and value of this fragile and very necessary stretch of open space.”

Proposals for the new store show it would be built on land off the Old Thanet Way, with the footprint of the supermarket closer to the roundabout than in the initial application.

That first bid was narrowly rejected by the city council’s planning committee on the grounds it would have been constructed on protected open space.

Mr Gore believes the new proposals should be voted down for the same reason.

“The whole of this open space consists of hedgerows, farmland, allotments, drainage and a local wildlife site,” he said.

“There is no designation for any development within this open space, and it provides a valuable buffer strip between the old Thanet Way and the densely populated urban areas to the north and south.”

In addition, Mr Gore believes Herne Bay and Whitstable are already “spoilt for shopping choice”.

But Lidl spokesman Oliver Thomas argues the chain’s latest application tackles many of the concerns that were raised about its original proposals.

“This includes repositioning our store, to keep both the existing paddock and protected open space toward the western end of the site, as well as the retention of hedgerows to the east of the site, with further planting and retention of hedgerows to the southern boundary,” he added.

“We’ve made further positive changes to our plans, including an improved access point to the store via a brand new signalised pedestrian and cycle crossing, the planting of trees along the Thanet Way and proposed solar panels on the roof of the store.”