Plan for Lidl store referenced wrong locations

Local residents have criticised a supermarket planning application that cited the wrong town.

German retailer Lidl submitted an application to Babergh District Council for a new supermarket in Lady Lane in Hadleigh, Suffolk, in November.

However Richard Fletcher, the chair and secretary of The Hadleigh Society, said there were "disappointing" errors in the application where Hadleigh had been confused with areas near Leeds and Birmingham.

A Lidl spokesperson apologised for the mistakes.

Within the application, there was a mistake of Hadleigh being called Halesowen, a market town close to Birmingham in the West Midlands.

As well as this, the application made reference to the 91 bus service from Halton Moor to Pudsey Bus Station.

However, both these locations are found near Leeds in West Yorkshire and not in Suffolk.

While there is a 91 bus service in Hadleigh, it does not serve Lady Lane.

Mr Fletcher said he was aware the mistakes were not down to Lidl itself, but rather the agents it had recruited to write planning reports on its behalf.

He added that he, as well as members of The Hadleigh Society which aims to preserve and protect the town, did not have "any great problem" with Lidl.

"It is very depressing that there is a plethora of errors by obviously doing cut and pastes from other reports," he explained.

"Which suggests of course not a very sensible and local checking of the facts on the ground."

Mr Fletcher, who is a former town planner, said there had been a "mixed" response to the plans.

The Hadleigh Society in its own official comment on the application highlighted other issues around safety and the environmental impact.

Mr Fletcher said some of these issues could be sorted with consideration toward Hadleigh.

"The design, you wouldn't know if it is in Hadleigh or in fact in the West Midlands because of course it is to a corporate design and it doesn't really fit in on the edge of a rural town," he added.

A spokesperson for Lidl thanked people in Hadleigh "for their support".

"We are so grateful for the overall reaction that our proposals have received – with 88% of residents in favour – and would like to apologise for any errors in the plans, which have now been corrected," they said.

"We look forward to keeping the local community updated as things progress."

Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.