Tesco has failed in a Court of Appeal bid to block Lidl from opening a new store in Stockport.
Lawyers for Tesco argued in both the High Court and the Court of Appeal that officials at Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council failed to properly interpret the so-called “sequential test” when they approved Lidl’s plans for an 1,900 sq m food store in November 2022.
The test is a planning principle used to encourage town centre development. It requires planning authorities to consider whether there are any more central suitable sites available when applications for development come up.
The proposed Lidl site was “out of centre”, meaning it was neither in the city centre or far out enough to be considered “edge of town”.
Lawyers for Tesco, according to court documents, argued there were two closer sites that the council should have considered: a Next store that was about to close down and a vacant site.
However, the owners of the Next site were already in discussion with Marks & Spencer, and the owners of the vacant site were in discussions with Aldi.
Lawyers for Tesco argued the planning committee should have considered those sites under the sequential test. Lawyer for Lidl argued the sites weren’t available, so the test didn’t apply.
In January last year, a High Court judge backed Lidl. Tesco appealed. And in a ruling handed down today, the Court of Appeal rejected Tesco’s case.
“Interpreting a planning policy ought not to be a difficult task,” Sir Keith Lindblom, who wrote the ruing, said.
He said he agreed with the High Court judge.
“In the circumstances as they were at the time of its decision on Lidl’s application for planning permission, the council could reasonably conclude that the proposal should not be turned away on the basis of any sequentially preferable site being ‘available,’” he said.
The other two sites “were not truly alternatives to the application site.”
“There was no error of law,” he said, dismissing the appeal.
R (On the Application of Tesco Stores Ltd) v Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council and Lidl Great Britain Ltd
Court of Appeal (Sir Keith Lindblom, Lord Justice Baker, Lord Justice Lewis) 9 May 2025
