Stockport Council has rejected plans for a new Lidl in Cheadle Heath, with the supermarket accused of 'disgusting' behaviour to whip up public support for the proposal.

Lidl hoped to open a new store on the site of Cheadle Heath Works on Stockport Road near Roscoes roundabout, with an in-store bakery and 102 car parking spaces.

A planning application for the proposal was first registered in February 2023, and since then talks have been taking place between the company and council to try and agree on a suitable design.

Concerns were raised by residents about existing traffic problems on the roads around the area, which some felt would have been made worse with a new supermarket.

Nearly 60 people objected to the application, saying it could lead to problems around the exit slip road off the M60.

Stockport Council also raised fears about the appearance of the proposed store.

Town hall officers recommended the plans were refused, saying it failed to ‘respect the positive character of the local area’ due to large areas of car parking dominating the design, and concerns about the ‘scale, form and elevational treatment of the store building.’

Councillors at the Cheadle area committee delivered the final blow by rejecting the application last night (28 January).

Stockport town hall (Image - Alasdair Perry)

The application sparked controversy in December when it was initially due to be decided, but was pulled from the agenda before the meeting began.

After the move, Lidl said more than 400 local residents had signed an online petition in support of a new store at the site.

Councillors said residents in the Cheadle Heath area were handed postcards from Lidl which outlined the benefits of the proposal, and offered the chance to sign the petition supporting the application.

Cllr David Meller said adding a supermarket to the road would be a “disaster” for traffic and road safety, and that the site should be sold to develop for housing instead.

He added: “The mischief perpetuated by this postcard that went out was disgusting, it was absolutely disgusting.

“I will still say now, the reason why it was delayed [in December] was to get this postcard out, that’s my honest view.

“I might be wrong, but that’s how it looks. It was to get this postcard out to try and show a veneer of support around this application, of which in my view there is very little.”

Roscoes Roundabout in Cheadle Heath (Image - Google Maps)

Cllr Jilly Julian said: “I think the exercise with the postcards has undermined some of the integrity of the consultation events that happened a really long time ago.”

She added: “I just feel like there’s a huge amount of local resident fear, anxiety around this that doesn’t necessarily come through in the glossy brochure and postcard approach.”

A resident speaking at the meeting said locals struggle to get their cars off their driveways because of the amount of traffic on Stockport road.

They added: “There’s been so many accidents in front of our house and people have knocked on the door and said please can you give us your [footage], there’s just been so many.

“To me it’s a dangerous place to put so much traffic and thoroughfare.

“I think [the site] has just been left so people get fed up with it and say we need something else, but at the minute it’s not a place to put a big Lidl because the road is too busy.”

Speaking on behalf of Lidl, Jonathan Harper from Rapleys property consultancy said any harm to the local area caused by policy conflicts with the council “is considered to be minimal,” and that the supermarket “worked hard with Stockport council highways to reach a position where officers are comfortable with the development proposed” from a roads point of view.

He added that it would have brought “substantial benefits” including 40 new jobs, a £10m investment, bringing a brownfield site “back into beneficial use,” and “high quality and affordable food for residents.”

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