Lidl forced to issue apology for offending locals with embarrassing blunder in supermarket planning application
Pro-Palestine protesters take Israeli-linked products off the shelves of Cardiff Lidl
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A planning application by Lidl for a new supermarket in Hadleigh, Suffolk, has drawn criticism after it confused the town with locations hundreds of miles away near Leeds and Birmingham.
The German retailer submitted plans to Babergh District Council for a store on Lady Lane, but the application contained several geographical errors that local residents have called "disappointing".
The Hadleigh Society, a local preservation group, identified multiple instances where the application mixed up the Suffolk town with areas in the West Midlands and West Yorkshire.
Among the errors, the application referred to Hadleigh as Halesowen, a market town near Birmingham in the West Midlands.
Hadleigh High Street
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The document also mentioned a "91 bus service from Halton Moor to Pudsey Bus Station" - locations that are actually near Leeds in West Yorkshire.
While Hadleigh does have a number 91 bus service, it does not serve Lady Lane, where the proposed supermarket would be built.
Richard Fletcher, chair and secretary of the Hadleigh Society, noted that the mistakes were made by planning agents working on Lidl's behalf, rather than the supermarket chain itself.
"It is very depressing that there is a plethora of errors by obviously doing cut and pastes from other reports," Fletcher explained.
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An image showing the locations noted
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He added: "Which suggests of course not a very sensible and local checking of the facts on the ground."
Fletcher, a former town planner, also expressed concerns about the supermarket's design.
"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," Fletcher said.
The Hadleigh Society separately raised concerns regarding safety and environmental impact in their official response.
A Lidl sign
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Fletcher added: “It is extremely disappointing that the submissions made on behalf of Lidl are so deficient.
“The scheme lacks the environmental, landscaping and quality design one would have expected from a leading retailer, for its location in an important historic market town.”
Despite the errors, Lidl's plans have received overwhelming local support, with 88 per cent of residents in favour of the new supermarket.
A Lidl spokesman thanked the Hadleigh community for their support and apologised for the mistakes in the application.
"We are so grateful for the overall reaction that our proposals have received and would like to apologise for any errors in the plans, which have now been corrected," he said.
The company has committed to keeping local residents informed as the planning process moves forward.
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