Tenby’s town councillors have given their views on proposals for a new Lidl store being built on the outskirts of the seaside town.

Lidl unveiled towards the end of last year, its plans to progress forward with proposals for a new foodstore on land off the A478, on Narberth Road at New Hedges [St Mary Out Liberty], near the entrance to Park House Court care home.

A pre-application consultation relating to the intention of ‘Lidl Great Britain Ltd’ to submit to the local planning authority (Pembrokeshire County Council) a full planning application for the development of foodstore (Class A1) with surface level car parking, landscaping, and all associated development, was recently submitted.

At the most recent meeting of Tenby Town Council, the town clerk Andrew Davies said while the development is not within the boundaries of Tenby it is on the border of the area with the ward of St Mary Out Liberty and could have an impact.

He also told members that the Town Council had been copied into a letter submitted under the consultation process from a resident of the New Hedges area.

Mr Davies said the Town Council reserves the right, as statutory consultees on planning matters, to a more detailed response should the application be brought forward.

The initial views of the Town Council are that they welcome the investment into the area and the potential job creation opportunities.

However, members stated that they are concerned about the impact of the development on the landscape just on the borders of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and suggest a comprehensive landscaping scheme to mitigate this potential impact.

Members are also concerned as to the potential impact on access and egress to the new development on the main A487 road into Tenby.

The junction to the proposed site already services a housing estate. Residents of the estate already experience difficulties over access and egress onto this main 50mph A road.

Concern was also expressed that the addition of customer traffic to and from such a new store, together with the addition of delivery vehicles, will increase traffic congestion - particularly during the tourist season when Tenby not only sees its resident population increase from 5,000 to over 20,000 but a large influx of day-tripper visits too.

County Councillor for the ward of New Hedges, Cllr Rhys Jordan recently shared an update on the situation, with the consultation underway.

“Many residents will now be aware of Lidl’s intention to build a new supermarket on land at Park House Court,” he said.

“My position I want to be clear - I support the idea of a new supermarket for the area — it’s something many residents have long called for and can bring many benefits including lower prices and job opportunities. But I do not support the location being proposed.

“This site is not suitable, in my view. It goes against the current Local Development Plan, and I believe there are better, more appropriate locations that would serve the community without the same level of impact.”