Lidl hits back over Wellington railway station delays

Somerset Council's planning committee west met in Taunton on August 26 to discuss the delivery of the spine road which will lead from Nynehead Road to the new station's car park, via an approved development of 200 homes.

Part of this access road was constructed before the Lidl supermarket opened in April 2023, with the council stating that delivering the remainder of the road has been delayed after investigations revealed Lidl had not built its section up to adoptable standards.

The supermarket has now responded that it is "not obstructing any development" and that the necessary remedial work will be completed as soon as possible to prevent any further hold-ups.

Simon Fox, the council's major project planning officer, told the committee that Lidl had "failed to construct the first stretch of spine road to an adoptable standard" - meaning that the council could not completely guarantee access to the railway station and new homes.

What followed was "many months of intrusive investigation", with Lidl now having to carry out "re-mediation works" in the coming weeks to bring its section of the road up to standard before the rest of the access can be delivered.

Lidl said that it would complete these remedial works as soon as humanly possible to ensure the rest of the spine road could be delivered swiftly.

A spokesperson said: "We are undertaking remedial works to our access road in coordination with the council, who have been involved throughout our project.

"This is to ensure alignment with future developments, and our scheme remains entirely independent of any future planning applications.

"The remedial works under way do not prohibit any highway works required for the proposed railway station or housing development, now or in the future."

West of England Developments (Taunton) Ltd. - which is delivering the new homes and the road - had been negotiating with Lidl over securing additional land to deliver a safer access point to the Taunton Road roundabout, changing the priority of Nynehead Road.

When these negotiations came to nought, the committee agreed that the developer would instead pay a sum of £359,000 to the council, which could be spent on future road improvements, affordable houses or additional resources for Wellington's schools.

Responding to this situation, a Lidl spokesperson said: "We have consistently remained open to progressing discussions around the potential sale of land, and as part of our ongoing engagement with both the council and the developer, we have clarified our position in support of long-term infrastructure goals in the area."