A NEW Lidl supermarket on the outskirts of Okehampton is being recommended for refusal by planning officers ahead of a crucial meeting.

Lidl wants to replace the 25-year-old town centre supermarket with a larger one in Exeter Road where much of the new development is taking place, employ an extra 10 people and provide “significantly improved back-of-house and welfare facilities” plus 121 parking spaces.

But whilst 250 people have supported the proposal, 55 have objected to it along with the local town and parish councils and National Highways, with concerns over the impact it would have on the town centre and road safety.

Planning officers say that options to improve the current site in School Way or find alternative brownfield sites closer to the town centre have not been thoroughly explored and proposed trading levels of the proposed store are unclear.

Lidl’s town centre store is in a cluster of three supermarkets and there are arguments for and against keeping it there.

While supporters of the new plans say severe congestion is caused by three supermarkets clustered in the town centre, opponents say a high proportion of Lidl shoppers currently undertake linked trips to other town centre businesses and “the loss of these linked trips would materially reduce footfall and spending across the wider town centre, undermining its overall economic health”.

West Devon Borough Council’s planning committee will need to decide at their next meeting if the possible relief of town centre gridlock and predicted improved shopping experience outweighs the concerns about safety risks at the A30 junction, town centre vitality and other issues over biodiversity loss and impact of “urbanisation” at the boundary to Dartmoor National Park as the site falls within the Stockley hamlet.

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Lidl said it received “widespread community support” for its plans during a consultation process with 1,100 residents backing it.