Plans to build budget supermarket on 'extremely busy' Northampton road set for approval despite nearly 200 objections

Plans to build a new budget supermarket on an “extremely busy” Northampton road have been recommended for approval despite nearly 200 objections.

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) is set to give the go ahead for Mayleigh House, in Kettering Road North, to be demolished and replaced with a Lidl supermarket and an adjoining 126-space car park.

The supermarket will be built to Lidl’s latest specification with a modern design incorporating high-quality materials and energy-efficient building management systems, according to the plans.

A decision is set to be made at a council planning committee meeting on Tuesday (September 6), but a planning officer has recommended it for approval.

However, since the application was first submitted in November 2020, there have been 195 objections via letters and petitions, mainly raising concerns with the likely traffic increase in the area and that there is already a Lidl just two miles away.

Conservative councillor Mike Hallam, of the Parklands ward, is one of the 195 objectors, who says he has “concerns about the increased level of traffic this will bring to an already extremely busy section of the Kettering Road”.

However, WNC says in planning papers “that the proposal is considered to be acceptable on highway safety grounds”.

A Lidl spokesman previously said: "As well as enabling customers to access to our fresh, quality and great value produce, if granted, this would mark a multi-million-pound investment in the area and the creation of around 40 new full and part-time jobs for the local economy once opened.”

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If plans are approved, the supermarket's recommended opening hours are: Monday – Saturday from 8:00 am to 10pm; Sunday from 10am to 4pm; and public/Bank Holidays from 8am to 10pm.

The supermarket would become the fifth Lidl in Northampton, joining the current stores in Weston Favell, Sixfields, Far Cotton and the under-construction site in Duston.

The under-construction Lidl in Lodge Way, Duston, replaces the former Harvey’s Warehouse site which was demolished earlier this year. The site is set to open this winter, according to Lidl GB’s regional head of property, Iain Ross.