Residents in Llantwit Major are worried that plans for a new supermarket in their area could be rejected.
Vale Council’s planning committee are set to meet on Thursday, December 12 to make a decision on plans for a new Lidl on land at Bridge House Farm on the outskirts of the town.
A planning report shows that committee members are being recommended to refuse the application because of the impact it would have on the appearance of the countryside.
However, one man who lives in Llantwit said a cheaper shop like Lidl is really needed in the area.
Rhodri Hewitt said: “When I can, I will still like now and then to go and use the local butchers. I know the people who run it and you want to support them as much as you can and it is good quality stuff."
"I have got a professional job, my wife works full time…[but] at the end of the day, three weeks into a month we are skint. Times are very hard at the moment and the bottom line is… you have to use that as your priority for where you shop, don’t you?"
The father of two said the other options for a food shop are the Co-op and Filco.
Rhodri said the Filco is useful for picking up some items, but added that many families need more cheaper options.
On the current journey he currently has to make each week to do a shop, Rhodri said: “We are looking at at least 10 miles each way."
“We can either go east towards Barry, and that is in the Pencoedtre area of Barry which is…for us the other side of [the town], or we have got the other Lidl in Bridgend.”
Another challenge of these journeys, according to Rhodri, especially the trip to Barry, is the level of traffic he often encounters on the way.
Llantwit Major Town Council’s website states the population of the town is 14,500 people.
However, hundreds of homes were allocated for land in Llantwit Major as part of Vale Council’s local development plan, and more recently, the local authority opened its new emergency housing site for Ukrainian refugees and homeless families from the Vale.
Heol Croeso, located where Eagleswell Primary School used to be, is made up of 90 units.
Rhodri, who has lived in Llantwit Major for most of his life, said he has seen the town grow a lot since his childhood and that it is “woefully under-serviced” for its size.
He added: “I don’t think that the rest of Llantwit has caught up with it."
“Every shopping area that was around 20 years ago, that is all we have got now. No new buildings have popped up, the Filco has expanded over the years, but nothing new has materialised."
“No new shopping spaces, no new parking spaces and…we haven’t even got a petrol station.”
The council's planning report on the Lidl store states: “By reason of its location, design, form, and scale, the proposals would unacceptably impact upon the appearance and character of the countryside and would be incongruous with the surrounding area."
"The proposals, inclusive of the impacts of ancillary elements including lighting and parking, would result an unacceptable urbanising form of development that would result in the confluence of the settlements of Llanmaes and Llantwit Major and be detrimental to the setting of the Llanmaes Conservation Area."
Rhodri said hundreds of other residents have been supportive of plans for the new Lidl since news of the proposal came out.
He added: “I do want to offer my support to the local independent shops in Llantwit. This isn’t something against them."
“It is just having options and for that big shop…to have that option of having a cheaper shop I think is something we really need in Llantwit.”
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