A SUPERMARKET chain’s latest attempt to win permission for a new Poole 32,m 3store has been opposed by one of its rivals.

Lidl has objected to plans submitted by Aldi for a new shop on the Parrs factory site in Alder Road.

It said the impact on its Poole Road supermarket had been “underestimated” and that BCP Council should reject the scheme.

Aldi submitted its planning application in the summer, having had its first plans rejected in 2019 by councillors who opposed the use of the site for a non-care home purpose as it is allocated for in the Poole Local Plan.

A statement submitted with its plans says a care home development is “unlikely to come forward”.

“The application site is a brownfield site, there are no alternative and sequentially preferable sites that are suitable and available to accommodate the proposal, and a proportionate retail impact assessment has demonstrated that impacts are within acceptable thresholds,” a letter submitted on behalf of the chain says.

But the application has now attracted a formal objection from rival chain Lidl which has a supermarket less than half a mile away in Poole Road.

A report by consultancy RPS, commissioned by the discounter, says it is “concerned” about the potential impact the new shop would have.

“Aldi has assumed a trade diversion from it of £1.06 million which equates to an impact of -17 per cent,” it says. “However, I believe that to be an underestimate.

“A direct impact in the region of -20 per cent must itself be significantly adverse and merit the refusal of permission.”

It adds that a previous assessment had “assumed” it would take £2.6 million of turnover from Lidl and that this could be even greater given the age of the existing shop and its “non-optimal design” which, it says, “does affect its trading performance.

Ahead of making a decision on the application, the council has commissioned Avison Young to examine the impact a new Aldi store would have.

It also says the financial impact on Lidl is likely to be greater, saying that the information used by Aldi is “now out of date”.

It recommends an updated assessment be submitted and considered before “a final, robust conclusion can be reached” on the impact the new store would have.

A decision on the application will be made by council planning officers in the coming weeks.