PLANS for a new Lidl discount supermarket in Barnard Castle have been submitted to Durham County Council.
Along with the 20,882sq ft store at the Addison auction house site on Staindrop Road, plans have also been lodged for a 15,000sq ft Home Bargains shop.
The developers, Consolidated Property Group (CPG), said in their planning application that the Lidl store would employ about 40 people.
They added that consideration had been given to other sites including Barnard Castle Auction Mart, in Vere Road, and Grove Works, on Queen Street, but were rejected because of access problems.
CPG’s managing director Martin Ridgway said: “The auction house site has been vacant for three years and this development will bring a prominent and accessible brownfield site back into use. At the public consultation held in the town centre in late November, the vast majority of those who attended supported the scheme and the proposed retailers given the lack of choice in the town.
“These new stores will help address local shopping requirements as it is evident that most people drive to Bishop Auckland to do their main shopping. The proposed scheme will therefore deliver significant environmental and sustainability benefits by increasing the options for shopping locally, potentially reducing the need for longer car-borne journeys and associated vehicle emissions” .
More details in next week’s Teesdale Mercury.
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
