West Norfolk Borough Council planning committee agreed this week to approve plans for the proposed Downham Market Lidl supermarket after delays and challenges.
Plans for a Lidl store were originally approved in May last year but the decision was overturned by judicial review, where a judge is asked to rule on whether the proper procedures were followed. Following the review, Lidl submitted further plans for a slightly scaled-down footprint store.
The new plans were put before the planning committee in January this year but a decision was delayed due to an administrative error uploading documents in good time.
In a meeting of the Borough Council’s planning committee this week the council voted unanimously in favour of the plans, with one councillor abstaining.
Green Party councillor Michael de Whalley proposed that the plans be adjusted to include Carrstone bricks to be more sympathetic to the look of other buildings in Downham Market. This was agreed by the committee and will be a condition added to the plans.
Many residents welcomed the news in local Facebook groups, though a number of people were cautious that Tesco may try to cause further delays with another judicial review. Even without further legal challenge, large developments such as this take many months and sometimes years to complete.
