Planning Context
The site is allocated in the Kirklees Local Plan for housing development (32 houses). This allocation was made in the context of a previous planning application for housing at the site which was withdrawn in 2018, not long before the Local Plan was adopted.
The local area has seen a high level of housing delivery in recent years. In total – and excluding the proposal site - there are over new 1,500 dwellings committed within Lidl’s catchment area, including approximately 400 which have been built out in recent years and 1,138 allocated in the Local Plan. This is a very significant level of planned new housing in the area – particularly given that there is no plan to improve or increase retail facilities in the area – and represents a 15% increase on the number of dwellings recorded in the 2011 census.
A planning application for a new Lidl store at the site was refused in December 2019, principally on the basis of the site’s allocation for housing development. However, Lidl has undertaken a viability assessment which demonstrates that the site is not economically viable for housing, and this evidence will be formally submitted to the Council as part of the planning application.
Further work has also been undertaken, through a new household survey of shopping patterns across the area, and associated retail impact assessment. This demonstrates that the proposal will not have a detrimental impact on existing local shops, and that there is a strong need for additional retail provision in the local area.
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