Lidl wants longer hours for deliveries

A BID by Lidl to extend the hours of goods being delivered to its Westbury store has been  opposed by town councillors.

The company is currently allowed to accept delivery of goods to its Kingfisher Drive premises from 7am to 11pm Monday to Saturday and from 9am to 5pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays. Lidl has now applied for permission to extend delivery times on Sundays and Bank Holidays to 7am to 8pm.

Westbury Town Council objected to a previous attempt by Lidl for more delivery hours on the grounds that residents living in close proximity  said deliveries were already happening outside of the allowed times, and they were suffering “excessive interference” as a result.

Chair, cllr Ian Cunningham said, “People should be allowed not to have  lorry movements outside their house on a Sunday at 7am.  [Lidl] has got 13 hours within which they could deliver on a Sunday. They don’t need more.”

Cllr Gordon King said he fully supported the objection. “We have taken fully on board what Lidl say but our first duty is to the residents,” he added. “The front door of the nearest house is 20 yards away. It’s unacceptable.”

And cllr Ward Jones said Wiltshire Council should not change the current delivery times. “This request is for the convenience of Lidl and not for the local populous, so I would echo what the councillors have said.  We are here to deliver a better Westbury, and a better Westbury for the people who live here,” he concluded. “We hope that Wiltshire Council will stay with what they said before.”

At the meeting of the town council’s highways, planning & development committee, held on 21st September, all members voted in favour of objecting, except cllr Nick Pyne, who abstained from voting.