Lidl overcomes planning, alcohol and parking rows to open new supermarket in Hythe

AFTER rows about parking and late-night alcohol sales, Lidl’s newest store will open in Hythe tomorrow (Thursday).

The outlet in New Road will serve its first customers from about 8am after a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

As reported in the A&T, Lidl won planning permission from New Forest District Council on the second attempt in 2017 after modifying its first design which had been attacked by councillors as a “monstrosity”.

Hundreds of residents wrote in support of the applications for the site of the former public car park in St John’s Road.

However, a successful bid to NFDC last year for licensing hours of 7am-11pm – although the store is expected to actually shut at 10pm – sparked objections over fears of underage drinking, anti-social behaviour and litter.

There were also concerns from residents and councillors over whether the loss of the public car park – which NFDC sold to Lidl – would cause problems on the roads.

The council rejected a call to create more spaces but agreed to keep a watching brief on the situation.

This week Lidl UK’s regional head of property, James Mitchell, said: “We would like to thank all those who have played a part in bringing this new Lidl store to Hythe.

“It is great for us to be able to create more jobs and investment opportunities in the area, and we can’t wait to start serving our multi-award-winning products to the local community.”

The new supermarket forms part of the company’s ongoing expansion and regeneration plans in the UK. It said it had created up to 40 new jobs.

The store has a nearly 1,400-square metre sales area and features facilities such as an in-store bakery, longer-style tills with dual packing, customer toilets, baby changing and parking for both cars and bicycles.

Lidl said there would be exclusive deals in the first week of opening.