Lidl and Aldi are set for a High Court battle over East Lindsey District Council’s decision to grant planning permission for a new supermarket to one of the discount retailers over the other.
According to a ruling handed down today, last year both Lidl and Aldi applied to the council for planning permission to build a supermarket on the outskirts of Horncastle, Lincolnshire.
According to Lidl, at a meeting in June 2022 the council’s planning officer told representatives of the company that the council intended to consider both applications in the same planning meeting.
Lidl made an amendment to its proposal that required further consultation. The result was that it was not ready for the council’s November planning meeting. Even so, the council had its retail impact report ready, so it considered the Aldi proposal.
The council found that the Aldi proposal satisfied the sequential test in both national and local planning policy, so gave Aldi planning permission.
Lidl took legal action and applied for a judicial review of the decisions. Although initially refused, it appealed again, and in a ruling handed down today a High Court judge sitting in Leeds said the case could go forward.
Specifically, Lidl has been granted permission to argue that the council failed to consider some of the specific merits of its proposal. It has also been given permission to argue that the council breached a legitimate expectation when it did not hear both applications in the same meeting.
The case is likely to be heard at Leeds Combined Court next year.
Lidl Great Britain Ltd v East Lindsey District Council and another
KBD Administrative Court, sitting at Leeds Combined Court (Deputy High Court Judge Karen Ridge) 15 December 2023
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