Plans for new Lidl and care home in Wetherby to be considered

The hotel off the A58 in Wetherby would have to be demolished

Plans to build a Lidl supermarket and care home in a market town will be considered by council planners.

To make way for the development in Wetherby, the Mercure Hotel off the A58 would have to be demolished.

Planning officers warned the scheme would "undermine" efforts to build more homes as the site had been allocated for housing, and recommended the application be refused.

A Lidl spokesperson said the firm was "disappointed" by the recommendation.

The scheme, put forward jointly by Lidl and Springfield Health Care, would include an 84-bed care home and eight senior living homes, the Local Democracy Service reports.

The North and East Plans panel will consider the proposals at a meeting on Thursday.

In documents attached to the planning application, Lidl said the supermarket would provide a "spacious and attractive shopping environment for local residents and visitors in a convenient and accessible location".

However, the chief planning officer concluded the scheme should be refused due to the "significant adverse impact" it would have on Wetherby town centre and its traders.

A council report said there had been 122 objections and 611 letters backing the development.

An 84-bed care home and eight senior living homes could be built on the site

It said the majority of supportive comments "have been submitted on a standard letter template, understood to have been circulated by the applicant".

Writing on the council's planning portal earlier this year, one objector claimed the benefit of a new supermarket "is limited", adding: "We already have Morrisons, Aldi, Co-op and Sainsbury's besides the local food shops.

"For Wetherby town centre to survive its vital that the independent shops are allowed to continue on a level playing field."

One local person writing in support of the application said: "Another supermarket is definitely needed with this ever-growing community.

"I don't see a problem with access to the site. It's on the edge of town that can be accessed easily both by foot or car."

The Mercure hotel has been used this year to house Afghan refugees, according to the council report, though all have now moved out into alternative accommodation.

The proposals come a decade after plans for a Sainsbury's on the same site were refused.

Lidl GB's regional head of property, Liam Schofield, said the firm was "disappointed" to hear planning officers had recommended refusal.

Mr Schofield said: "There is widespread support for the development, and we're incredibly grateful to the local community who continue to come out and back the plans."

Graeme Lee, CEO of Springfield Healthcare Group, said the scheme would "regenerate this key gateway into Wetherby" and "boost" the local economy.

He said, if approved, the development would create around 160 new full and part-time jobs.

A CGI image of the development