Construction on new Lidl store in Stansted Road, Bishop’s Stortford, due to start ‘later this year’

An opening date for the £12m new Lidl store in Bishop’s Stortford is still to be confirmed, with construction not due to start until later this year – three years after it was first announced.

The discount supermarket chain revealed in August 2021 that it wanted to make a “multi-million-pound investment” in a site on Stansted Road, building a 2,382 sq m (25,639 sq ft) branch with a retail area of 1,414 sq m (15,220 sq ft).

It applied to East Herts Council for planning permission to use the site formerly occupied by the Gates of Stortford Ford dealership and promised an in-store bakery, customer toilets and 147 of its “largest format (5.2m x 2.7m) parking spaces”, including 10 for the disabled, 10 parent-and-child bays and two electric vehicle charging points.

The plan for the store, which would create 40 new jobs, was approved by EHC’s development management committee in December 2022 after it was deferred by councillors earlier that year.

The council had received 91 objections centred on access, traffic and noise for neighbouring residents – one of whom, Cheryl Sauvary, had concerns over the impact on her disabled and vulnerable daughter Vanessa, saying the store could have “life-changing” consequences for her family.

A spokesperson for Lidl told the Indie this week the company was “still in the early stages and construction has not yet started”. They would be looking to start on site “later this year” and an opening date was yet to be confirmed.