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Lidl is not giving up on building a new supermarket in Inverness – despite shelving plans at Drakies last week

Lidl already has an outlet in Inverness on Telford Road. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson
Lidl already has an outlet in Inverness on Telford Road. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson

Lidl is not giving up on building another supermarket in Inverness, the retailer has said.

The German giant withdrew its plans for a new shop and 38 houses in the Drakies area of the city earlier this month.

A 109-space car park was also included in the plans.

The site was recently denoted as space for 80 houses in Highland Council’s local development plan.

That meant the supermarket chain would have struggled to win the approval of the council’s planners.

What has Lidl said about its plans?

But while it now looks unlikely that we’ll see a Lidl on the site at Drakies, the retail giant is not done with the Highland capital.

A spokeswoman for Lidl said: “We are continuing to review suitable sites for a new Lidl store in Inverness.”

There are already two supermarkets, a Tesco superstore and an Aldi, a stone’s throw from the proposed location at Inshes Retail Park.

Inverness councillor Ian Brown. Image: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

And within a two-mile radius, there are another two Tesco supermarkets, an Asda and a Morrisons.

Last week, Inverness councillor Ian Brown speculated that Lidl may even be tempted to return to the site with an altered proposal.

He said: “The land has been empty for a long time, somebody may come back with something. It might even be Lidl again.

“But whatever goes there, access will be a big issue.”

Homes are still likely to be built at the site

The plot of land in question is at the back of the Highlands and Islands police division headquarters.

Lidl initially applied to the council for planning permission in principle in December 2021.

The area around the proposed site has been struggling with capacity issues for a long time.

The eagle roundabout on Sir Walter Scott Drive, close to where the supermarket would have been built. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson

Inshes roundabout is already well-known for its gridlock.

And the volume of traffic on Sir Walter Scott Drive, known locally as the southern distributor road, has also been growing steadily as more and more houses pop up in the south of the city.

The potential loss of Drakies Park was a major concern of residents when this application was first floated.

But whether it’s from Lidl or a housing developer, that issue is bound to crop up again.

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