Lidl's Lambridge store was refused on 21 October for five reasons, led by an 11.7% hit to Larkhall's shops and queues onto the A46. Lidl can appeal until April.
Lidl has been refused planning permission for a supermarket at Lambridge, on the A4 London Road West into Bath. Bath and North East Somerset Council issued the refusal on Wednesday 21 October 2026.
The decision was taken by a planning officer under delegated powers, not by the planning committee. It ends the second attempt at the site. Lidl’s first application, for a 2,283 square metre store, was withdrawn in 2024.
Both the decision notice and the officer’s 56-page report are on the council’s planning record for the scheme, reference 25/01403/FUL.
The five reasons for refusal
The decision notice gives five reasons:
- Larkhall’s shops. The store would have “a significant adverse impact upon the vitality, viability and diversity of Larkhall Local Centre”.
- Walking and cycling. Lidl had not shown that satisfactory walking and cycling facilities could be provided.
- Traffic. Lidl had not shown there would be no “severe cumulative impact” on the road network.
- Wildlife. There was not enough information on roosting bats, the Bath and Bradford-on-Avon Bats Special Area of Conservation, and badgers.
- Heritage. The store would harm the World Heritage Site, the Bath Conservation Area and the settings of Lambridge House, Montague House, Whyke House and Cedar Close. The officer found that harm was not outweighed by the public benefits.
The notice also says the council told Lidl it would recommend refusal. Lidl “chose not to withdraw the application”, so the council issued its decision.
What Lidl wanted to build
The site is about 1.23 hectares of land north-east of Bath Rugby’s Lambridge training ground. Most of it is in Flood Zone 2. It sits inside the World Heritage Site and the conservation area, and outside any shopping centre.
The officer’s report describes the store as:
- 1,228 square metres of sales floor, of which 982 for food and 246 for other goods
- 81 car parking spaces and cycle parking for 14
- open 7am to 10pm Monday to Saturday, and 10am to 5pm on Sundays
- a new footbridge to carry the pavement past the site, over the Lam Brook
Why Larkhall was the deciding issue
Larkhall’s shopping street is about 400 metres from the site. The council’s retail advisers, Nexus, found that around 60% of its existing shops would overlap with what the Lidl sold.
Lidl’s own assessment put the loss of food trade in Larkhall at 9.9%. Nexus put it at 10.1%, and at 14.1% in a second scenario. The officer said the true figure was “likely to be at the top of that range”.
The report gives the overall hit to Larkhall at 11.7%. It says the centre is in “good health” with few empty units, but concludes it “is unlikely to be able to withstand the magnitude of these impacts without resulting in closures”.
The officer also argued the new store would trade harder than Lidl’s figures assumed. The report says Lidl’s existing Bath store, on the Lower Bristol Road, takes about £27,000 per square metre on food. That is “more than three times the Lidl company average”, and the report calls it “one of the strongest Lidl stores in their UK portfolio”.
The traffic findings
The council’s highways officers objected on 19 October. They reviewed Lidl’s traffic modelling using 2024 traffic counts.
The report says the model showed “a general breakdown” of westbound traffic into Bath. Queues would reach back onto the A46 main carriageway in the weekday morning peak. In the evening peak and on Saturdays, queues would stretch east of the A46 roundabout towards Batheaston.
No measures to ease the queues were proposed. The officer called it “extremely unlikely that a reasonable mitigation strategy could offset the severe impacts”.
National Highways, which runs the A46, never cleared the scheme. In May 2025 it told the council not to approve the scheme for six months while Lidl did more traffic work. It renewed that holding advice in November 2025 and again in May 2026.
Who objected and who supported
The application drew 739 objections, 259 letters of support and 14 general comments, according to the officer’s report. Some people commented more than once.
Objectors included:
- Wera Hobhouse, MP for Bath
- councillors Joanna Wright and Saskia Heijltjes
- the Co-op, Morrisons and Waitrose, each through planning consultants
- Bath Preservation Trust, the National Trust and Charlcombe Parish Council
- the Federation of Bath Residents’ Associations and Transition Larkhall
- bus operator Faresaver, which said the scheme would slow services on London Road
Historic England said the scheme would cause “a degree of harm” to the World Heritage Sites. ICOMOS, which advises UNESCO, suggested the UK should not approve it.
Supporters wanted more supermarket choice on the eastern side of Bath, where some said Morrisons dominates. The most common point, the report says, was that people now drive across the city to the Lidl at Twerton, or out to Chippenham, Melksham, Trowbridge and Longwell Green.
The officer gave the new jobs and Lidl’s investment “substantial weight” as a benefit. More shopper choice was given moderate weight. Fewer cross-city car trips were given limited weight, because the report found “little tangible evidence” of the saving.
What happens next
Lidl can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. The decision notice gives six months from 21 October 2026, which runs to April 2027. Any appeal would be decided by a government inspector, as happened with the Burnett solar farm this summer.
We will report whether Lidl lodges an appeal when it appears on the planning record.
What it means for you
- If you live in Larkhall or Lambridge: nothing is being built. The land stays as it is unless Lidl wins an appeal or applies again.
- If you shop at the Larkhall shops: the council has treated protecting them as the main reason to say no, on its advisers’ finding that a Lidl would likely close some of them.
- If you drive the A4 or A46: the council’s own modelling, not just objectors’ claims, found the scheme would push queues back onto the A46.
- If you wanted a Lidl in east Bath: the nearest stays on the Lower Bristol Road. An appeal is Lidl’s decision.
You can read every planning document on the council’s record for 25/01403/FUL. Other decisions this year are on our Bath planning news page, and current closures on London Road are on our Bath roadworks page.
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