Shrewsbury Town hopeful Lidl plans will get green light

Plans to build a Lidl on land at the Greenhous Meadow stadium will go back before planners next Thursday despite having previously been given permission in November.

It will be reconsidered by Shropshire Council’s Central Planning Committee alongside two outstanding applications relating to the location of a community pitch within the stadium grounds and a variation to a section 106 agreement.

Today, chief executive Brian Caldwell said he was hopeful members of the committee had enough mitigation in front of them for the loss of a sports pitch to pass the plans.

The club will pay £65,000 towards sports facilities in the community and has committed to building changing facilities next to the proposed new pitch and being responsible for the maintenance of the pitch.

Mr Caldwell said: “We have got our fingers and toes crossed and hopefully all the information is now there. We have clarified areas they wanted clarifying.

“We have also committed to the changing rooms for the community pitch and we have also offered to pay the £65,000 to make sure we have covered all bases.

“We have crossed the Ts and dotted the Is so now we are hopeful the councillors will be of the mind to finally get this through.

“It is more than a year since the application went in and from a financial point of view it is costing us and Lidl lots in expenditure. They are desperate to get working as soon as possible.

“We felt it was appropriate to offer the £65,000 as further mitigation for the loss of the sports pitch which can be used to spend on more local facilities.”

A report to members says the Lidl application has been returned due to an on-going objection from Sport England about the loss of a sports pitch and officers' recommendations in November did not take this into account.

Officers have recommended the area planning manager is given delegated powers to grant planning permission on all three applications subject to legal agreements and conditions.

In a report to members regarding the Lidl application, case officer Karen Townend said: "Both the drainage upgrades and the changing facilities can be required as part of the S106.

"In addition to physical improvements to the rear pitch and off-site pitch the applicant has now also offered a financial contribution of £65,000 to be paid to the council to be spent on sport and recreation within the local area.

"The figure has been proposed by the club as a figure which was raised by Sport England early in the application process as the estimated cost of replacing a pitch.

"It is officer’s opinion that the additional enhancements and the financial contribution now proposed by the applicant provide improvements to the rear pitch, off-site pitch and opportunities to improve other sports facilities in the area to be considered as equivalent or better provision in terms of quantity and quality in a suitable location to the front pitch which is to be lost for the construction of the Lidl food store.

"The overall package now proposed and clearly set out in the new supporting statement is considered by officers to mitigate the loss of the pitch and therefore meet the requirements."

The community pitch would be available to the wider community for 57 hours per week with the charity using it for 43 hours per week.