Plans for new Lidl supermarket at Inshes in Inverness run into opposition from Highland Council officers
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Plans for a new supermarket near a notorious traffic bottleneck in Inverness have run into opposition from council officials.
Lidl wants to build a new food store and up to 38 homes on a greenfield site in Sir Walter Scott Drive, next to Inshes roundabout – a notorious traffic bottleneck.
It is still at the consultation stage but in its response, Highland Council’s development plans team says the proposal does not comply with the council’s development plan in terms of its spatial strategy, design, layout and transport impacts and should not be supported.
It comes as a proposed major expansion including shops, a public house and restaurant at the nearby Inshes Retail Park has also run into objections after Aberdeen Standard Investments applied for existing planning permission to be extended by three years.
Lidl revealed its plans for a new store last year.
But council officers have raised concerns about the potential impact of extra traffic on key transport improvements in the area including Inshes roundabout and also maintain it fails to comply with the new inner Moray Firth local development plan due to be published for consultation this month.
In their response, they highlight access issues and also maintain the proposal fails to comply with a requirement for car parking to be restricted to the site’s western edge and is not compatible with the Inshes Junction Improvements scheme.
They state: “The proposed design is dominated by car parking and road infrastructure, with the entrance to the retail and residential parts of the site sharing a double roundabout road layout, overlooked by a 100-plus space car park.”
They say the proposed flatted development, of up to four storeys, will be located immediately next to the larger of the roundabouts and within metres of Sir Walter Scott Drive while there is no proposed segregated cycling infrastructure or any other priority proposed for walking, wheeling or cycling.
Officers also voice surprise that land allocated for food retail in the development brief for ‘Inverness East’ – an expanding area – has not been factored into assessments submitted in support of the application.
They state: “There is adequate food retail provision west of the A9. Expansion of the city at Inverness East is the logical location for additional food retail.”
A Lidl spokeswoman said the company was in the initial consultation stages and welcomed all feedback.
Once the consultation ended, it would take the time to consider the feedback and share any next steps with the local community.
Another application by Aberdeen Standard Investments for renewal of planning permission for development next to the retail park has also prompted a range of objections including the impact on traffic while the owners of the Eastgate Shopping Centre have also raised concerns about the potential impact on the city centre which is still dealing with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
