Plans For New Wickes Store in Long Eaton Rejected

Erewash Borough Council has rejected plans to build a Wickes DIY store and a Lidl branch on a former industrial park in Long Eaton, according to local press.

Fears that the complex would 'kill off the town centre' were voiced by councillors, who met on the 23rd October to discuss the application. 

Councillors, planners and residents expressed concern that the site development could 'trigger a further spiral of decline' for the town centre and had the potential to be a 'category killer' for existing DIY and food stores.  

An agent acting on behalf of the applicants objected, stating that the development would be an improvement to the existing site and advising that the stores would generate £3.5m for the local economy each year.

Thirty news jobs would have been created at the Wickes store, with a further 40 at Lidl, had the plans come to fruition, according to the application which was submitted by Lidl and Clowes Developments. 

The Stadium Industrial Park on Nottingham Road has lain vacant since 2014 years and is now most likely to be used for housing, providing homes for the 173 households who will be made homeless by the demolitions currently proposed by HS2 Ltd.

Source : Insight DIY Team

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