Cheadle Heath Lidl store approved on appeal

Plans for a new Lidl store on the former Cheadle Heath Works site have been given the green-light, after Stockport Council’s decision to reject the retailer’s planning application was overturned at appeal.

Proposals for the store were first lodged in 2023 and refused by councillors in January 2025. The Cheadle Heath Works site on Stockport Road has been unoccupied since being vacated by long-term occupants, Deanprint, which signed a lease on new premises at Lawnhurst Trading Estate in late 2022 after 105 years at the site.

Both the council’s planning officers and local councillors rejected the plans for the store, criticising the design of the scheme for failing to fit in with the surrounding environment, which formed the main point of dispute in the appeal. Other concerns surrounded the impact on local traffic, environmental concerns, and a lack of local need for additional supermarket provision in the community.

The national Planning Inspector, however, concluded that the scheme’s design was acceptable, and was also satisfied by the proposal’s access arrangements, and granted approval for construction of the store to go ahead.

Plans for the Lidl supermarket proposed a 2,000 sqm building, with around 1,250 sqm of retail floorspace, alongside 100 car parking spaces with EV charging provision. The new store is also expected to support around 40 jobs.