ROSS-ON-WYE has been overlooked for a new Lidl supermarket to be based in the town after the retailer opted for a site on the edge of Ledbury instead.

The budget retailer has submitted a bid to build a new Lidl supermarket, medical health centre and children’s nursery on the outskirts of Ledbury on four acres of farmland beside the roundabout where Leadon Way, the A449 Ross Road and B4216 Dymock Road meet.

Lidl states that there has since been ‘a material change’ to the context of development in and around the town, and that the new bid ‘incorporates a smaller foodstore’.

A well-attended public exhibition in Ledbury in June drew 85 expressions of support from the 100 attendees, its current application says.

A previous bid by the company for a similar scheme was refused in January 2021 due to its likely impact on the town, with an appeal against the refusal dismissed in September 2022.

Likewise in Ross, plans to build a Lidl supermarket on the outskirts of Ross were also dismissed on appeal in July 2021.

The impact on Ross town centre was cited as a key reason for refusing the appeal. Planning inspector Philip Major was also critical of Lidl’s intention to build a ‘standard rectangular box’ on a main route into the town.

The plan, which was rejected by Herefordshire Council in July 2019, would have seen buildings on the Wolf Business Park demolished and the erection of a new supermarket and other premises for ‘employment use’.

Mr Major said the store would have significant impact on convenience shopping on retailers such as Morrisons and Aldi “who seem to trade strongly” but it would also affect smaller shops such as Spar and One Stop.

He added: “The very fact that the likes of Morrisons and Aldi offer convenient car parking is more likely to attract customers who will make linked trips to other town centre outlets.

“The diversion of trade from the larger town centre retailers is likely to impact on other more specialist shops and services, with which the town centre seems to be well supplied.”

Mr Major agreed that Lidl had passed the sequential test, which requires town centre sites to be considered first before considering an out-of-town site but stated that the design of the proposed building was ‘commonplace and bland’ in design and ‘fell short of what might be expected in this locality’.

He added: “The proposed store is essentially a rectangular box with an almost flat roof profile using a limited palette of materials.”

The proposed application for Ledbury addresses the ‘bland building’ scenario with an unusual feature planned for the south elevation - a ‘green’ wall of living panels.

The application states that the new nursery will have six classrooms as well as a large hall and studio on the first floor, while the medical centre should alleviate the strain on the current medical needs of the residents of Ledbury”.

Comments on the discount retailer’s new planning application, number 242783, can be made until January 12 via Herefordshire Council’s website.