October 24, 2011 9.08 pm This story is over 148 months old

Boultham Dairy Lidl and mosque approved

From dairy to Lidl: Controversial plans for a development that includes housing, a supermarket and a mosque have been approved.

The City of Lincoln Council approved plans that will see the site of the former Boultham Diary transformed into a Lidl, a mosque and new housing.

Around 250 people attended the heated meeting at The Lawn on October 24, where councillors debated the plans.

The Planning Committee gave full planning permission for the supermarket and associated parking, which means work can begin immediately.

The brownfield site has been unused since the dairy closed in 2009 and Lidl would relocate to the site from its existing St Marks store.

Outline permission was also granted for a housing estate and secondary building, which could be turned into a mosque or a light industrial unit.

The approval gives hope to the city’s Islamic Association, whose earlier plans to build a mosque on a nearby residential street were turned down.

The details of the housing development and the mosque will be subject to certain reserved matters, which include design, archeology and affordable housing.

Despite Boultham area residents’ concerns over traffic and flood risks, the Environmental Agency and County Council Highways were in favour of the plans.

Councillor Peter West, chair of the Planning Committee, said: “It’s important we take the opportunity to develop sustainable brownfield sites like this.

“The development will provide much need housing for the city and further the retail offer in the area, as well as potentially giving our Muslim community a permanent place of worship, for which they have been waiting a long time.”

Councillor Ric Metcalfe, Leader of the City Council, said the Planning Committee made “absolutely the right decision.”

Metcalfe rejected claims that residents’ concerns over increased traffic in the area were not properly listened to.

He said: “At the end of the day, the Planning Committee are democratically elected to take a view about a planning application on its merits, and that’s exactly what they’ve done this evening.”

The application was submitted by Lincolnshire Co-operative, which plans to sell the land now that the development was approved.

Spokesman for Lincolnshire Co-operative Emma Snedden said: “Through our agents, we are now going to move forward with the next stage of the development.

“This will be to meet the conditions set by the planning committee, including the improvements to the highways infrastructure.”

Related Reports: BBC Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire Echo