Support Lidl Torry

Lidl is proposing to upgrade and relocate its existing store on Wellington Road to a new site on the corner of Wellington Road and Greenwell Road in Aberdeen. We are delighted to be in a position to commence consultation with the local community on Lidl’s proposed plans.

Lidl's existing site provides a number of constraints in relation to size and location, which make it unsuitable for redevelopment or extension. The new Lidl of the Future (LOF) store requires 2 acres of land and, unfortunately, the existing site is only 1.3 acres. If Lidl was to construct the LOF store on this site, the design would be compromised and the number of parking spaces would be significantly reduced by over half.

In addition, the existing site is bordered by Wellington Road, a railway track and a site occupied by another foodstore. This means that any extension to the existing store would result in the loss of parking spaces. The entrance to the existing site also splits the car park in two, which leaves a large number of the available space unused.

As part of this relocation process we are in negotiations with a non-food operator about occupying our existing site. Peter Vardy will be vacating the new site, where Lidl will be constructing its LOF store, and relocating its Land Rover franchise to 132 Wellington Road (the former Glencraft site), to sit alongside Jaguar in a state of the art newly built dealership.

The new Porsche dealership has recently been built on a site adjoining Balmoral Business Park, Wellington Road and they are currently trading from that location. The total investment projected by Peter Vardy Limited in the area is £20 million and they employ 150 people across the 3 dealerships.

This relocation will provide better access to a Lidl store for neighbouring communities, as it will move closer to the boundaries of adjacent wards and resolve the issue of the road crossing at Lidl’s existing site, which will remain open throughout the relocation process. It will also lead to up to 25 new jobs being created, from Customer Assistants to Store Management, with Lidl being the first retailer in the UK to introduce the living wage for employees.

The relocation of Lidl’s Wellington Road store is part of a multi-million pound pipeline of investment, which will contribute to improving the overall retail experience of Aberdeen residents. This programme of modernisation in Aberdeen also includes the construction of a new LOF store on Inverurie Road, Bucksburn, for which Lidl received planning consent on 25 January 2016.

We have launched a website (www.torry.lidl.co.uk) as part of our comprehensive public consultation exercise. On the website you will find the plans for Lidl's proposed store, as well as information regarding how you can register your support in addition to signing this petition.