Plans to build a Lidl supermarket in the Seafield area of Edinburgh have been thrown out amid fears the shop would attract too many customers travelling by car.
The proposals for site at Seafield Road have been rejected by Edinburgh City Council for a second time after councillors argued that having a supermarket at that specific location would counter city aims to be climate friendly.
At a meeting on Wednesday members of the Council’s Development Management Sub-Committee voted seven to four against granting Lidl permission to open in a building located within a small industrial retail park, currently occupied by B&M.
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Councillors highlighted that the site is not well connected to public transport, with the “infrequent” and “unreliable” number 12 Lothian bus being the best and only public transport option.
They also argued that because it would take 17 minutes for many people residing within the supermarket’s catchment area to walk to it, customers are most likely to travel to the store by car, creating an increase in congestion that iwould be damaging to both the environment and local community.
Conservative Cllr Joanna Mowat, who moved to support Lidl opening, argued that although public transport connections are not ideal, local residents are keen for the supermarket to open at Seafield Road, with the majority of comments submitted in response to Lidl’s development application being supportive.
However, for most councillors local support was outweighed by environmental concerns.
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Development Management Sub-Committee Convener Neil Gardener told the meeting: “We’ve had several deputations from young people that are talking about climate change. If we’re being serious about climate change, we don’t have to (give in) to the first attempt a commercial enterprise which elicits some support (makes). We have to stick by our overriding principles and policies. Out-of-town retail isn’t going to address the climate change issue, whereas building in high streets does.
“We don’t need to settle for second best here, we should ask that the developers take on board the needs of the city and find the right site and find the right development proposal.”
Councillors also objected to the store opening on the grounds that supermarkets should focus their expansion efforts on or close to high streets.
Cllr Gardener told the committee: “In Portobello we’ve got a very effective high street and policies from the Scottish Government itself and NHS Lothian are to invest heavily in maintaining and improving high streets. We don’t support out of town retail and this is effectively an out of town site.”
He added: “Lidl please listen to the citizens of Edinburgh, please listen to the administration of this council. We want you to invest in our city, but we want you to invest in a more equitable way that allows access to all of our citizens to your retail offering.”
