Walsall: Lidl tables major plans to demolish Bloxwich warehouses to build new shop and create jobs

The ‘hybrid’ application is split into two parts. It requests full planning permission for the new retail store, and outlines planning permission for the new warehouse and distribution building.

If Walsall Council approves the application, the new single-storey retail store will be delivered along with a trolley bay and 122 car parking spaces including standard, disabled, parent and child, and EV charging bays.

The store will be located at the south of the development site facing out onto Green Lane A34. The two-storey 39,092 square metre warehouse and distribution building will include offices, car parking and a drivers lounge area.

Access for both facilities will be from Newfield Close off Green Lane. Lidl has proposed junction and street light improvements on the access roads to improve safety for pedestrians and vehicles accessing the site.

Lidl sent out 17,000 leaflets to nearby properties ahead of submitting the planning application. Out of the 1,790 responses, 96 percent supported the proposed redevelopment of the site, two percent were against it and two percent were neutral.

Those in favour of the development approved the new jobs and of having the new store in general. Those against it had concerns over increased traffic congestion, the lack of public transport access and an increase in noise and air pollution.

Lidl has shown a keen interest in several sites across the borough in recent years. In 2023, permission was granted for a new Lidl store on Walsall Road on the borough’s border with Sandwell. Meanwhile, plans were refused for a new Lidl store on the site of Broadway Bar and Metro Inn on Birmingham Road.

A decision on a new store at a former bingo hall site in Darlaston has been deferred to address issues around highway safety, and in Walsall Wood, a new Lidl store on the site of the Horse and Jockey pub is expected to open in the coming weeks.