Lidl drops controversial Sheffield supermarket plans after pressure from campaigners

Lidl has pulled out of plans to build a new supermarket in Sheffield city centre - to the relief of river campaigners.

The city council has acknowledged a planning application for the former Staples site at St Mary’s Gate Retail Park on Eyre Street has been withdrawn.

A Lidl spokeswoman said: "We have made the decision to withdraw our application so we can update our plans to bring a new Lidl to the local area. As things progress, we will keep the community updated."

It comes after the Sheaf and Porter Rivers Trust campaigned to open up the Porter Brook which runs under the car park - and lambasted Lidl for a ‘complete failure to acknowledge’ it.

In a Facebook post, the Trust stated: "We cautiously welcome this news, as the new store would have left the around 70m of the Porter Brook underground for several more generations. We thank those who wrote a staggering 244 objections to these poorly thought through plans.

"We welcome a future planning application for the site which reveals and restores the Porter Brook. The new local plan designates the location for apartments, to protect the Green Belt from new houses. Over the road, New Era Square shows that a successful supermarket can be included within a high rise.

"We ask our supporters to continue to monitor here for future applications and once again, thank you for your help."

It added: "They can submit any new application they wish or sell the site to another developer. Any new application would be judged on its own merits."

Earlier this year Lidl opened a supermarket in the former Sports Direct at 50 High Street. The plan for St Mary’s Gate was criticised for being a stone’s throw from an Aldi.

Sheffield's Local Plan states that 1,006 new homes could be created on the the plot.