Co-op Group and Filco Supermarkets have joined forces to oppose plans for a new Lidl store in Llantwit Major, Wales, driven by fears it would “destroy the town centre”.
The retailers’ concerns were heard at a public inquiry at the Civic Offices in Barry last week, where they jointly funded a barrister to represent them and 17 other town centre traders who said the development would harm their businesses, according to Filco Supermarkets MD Matthew Hunt.
Both Co-op and Filco Supermarkets own a store on Boverton Road in Llantwit Major. Filco Supermarkets’ primary supplier is Morrisons, operating under the ‘Together With’ co-branded fascia.
“All Lidl wants to do is a build a purpose-built unit on a nice green field site that’s got a good location and ignoring any impact on town centres or environmental issues,” Hunt told The Grocer. “It’s crazy, it will destroy the town centre.
“Every retail business is shaky, confidence is low, taxation costs are high. Everyone is looking at the impact of this development, and it’s going to pull 20% to 30% of the footfall out of the town. They are concerned for their futures.”
The Lidl development concerns land at Bridge House Farm in Llanmaes, on the outskirts of Llantwit Major, which the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s planning committee approved in December 2024. Council planning officers, however, had recommended that planning permission should not be granted at the time.
The following year, a local residents’ group requested the application to be called in, so ministers could decide whether it should be determined by the Welsh Government rather than the local authority.
In June 2025, the call-in was granted after the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning Rebecca Evans concluded the proposed development “potentially conflicts with national policy on development in the open countryside”.
It also raised “issues regarding compliance with national policy on placemaking in terms of ensuring development is sited in sustainable locations, impact on the setting of a Conservation Area, and whether a sequential search was followed in accordance with town centre first policies”.
The latter refers to Welsh planning policy that means only when retail and commercial centres and edge-of-centre locations have been considered and found to be unsuitable can out-of-centre options within, and then outside, a settlement area be considered.
Hunt said Lidl failed to ask if it could acquire its site in Llantwit Major or develop on any of the spare land it owns in the town centre.
“They’re not willing to invest in a town centre or redevelop in a town centre, they want to have a parasitic location on the outskirts and feed off what’s already there,” he said.
Lidl argued at the inquiry that the store would support the town centre by retaining local trade, and claimed alternative locations were unviable.
“There has been significant community support for a Lidl foodstore in this location throughout the planning process and over several years,” said a Lidl GB spokesman.
“This support has once again been underlined by almost 3,800 signatories to a recent petition, signed by people living in Llantwit Major and neighbouring communities such as Llanmaes, Rhoose, Cowbridge and St Athan. It is clear that local residents recognise the benefit of having increased local shopping choice and improved access to Lidl’s award-winning, discount offer.
“We hope that the final decision makers will recognise the strength of the community’s support, alongside the considerable benefits that Lidl’s proposed investment will deliver.”
The planning inspector will consider all the evidence presented at the inquiry and in written submissions and will make a report with a recommendation to the minister. A ministerial decision will be made in due course once the inspector submits their report.
A Co-op spokesman said: “We can confirm we are part of group of local businesses contesting the proposed development of farmland on the grounds of sustainability, the impact on the rural landscape and countryside, and the impact on Llantwit Major town centre.
”Against the recommendation of the council’s planning officer, plans for the out-of-town development were approved by planning committee, but subsequently the application has been referred to Welsh ministers. Legal counsel considered that the application should be refused, and we await the outcome.”
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