If it’s all about location, location, location then Lidl has got it wrong at Nailsea.

Nailsea Town Council voted unanimously to reject the plans by low cost supermarket Lidl to build on a town centre car park at its meeting on Wednesday night.

But while councillors dubbed the proposal ‘a tin cow shed’ to be built in the middle of a prominent landscaped parking area they agreed that on another Nailsea site a Lidl or even Aldi store would be welcome.

At the meeting 24 residents turned up to hear the council debate and present a 866-name petition against the plans.

Added to the more than 300 people who attended the town council public meeting on Friday at the Scotch Horn Centre it was in the words of James Mitchell, property director for Lidl UK, an overwhelming rebuff.

The major planning issue is that Lidl instead of adding car parking for staff and customers was in fact depleting spaces currently used by visitors to Crown Glass Shopping Centre and Tower House medical centre.

The lack of designated spaces for motorcycles and disabled drivers and the access for large delivery lorries also concerned councillors.

Another problem was the flora and fauna of the car park especially as some of the 11 threatened mature trees were in the roosting corridors of horseshoe bats.

However Nailsea would still be left with more car parking than Clevedon and Portishead combined, the meeting heard.

Lidl first announced plans for the new store in December 2012 but a formal planning application wasn’t submitted until December 2014 – and put online by the district council just days before Christmas.

Following representations from residents and a round of consultations Lidl has made some minor alterations to its initial plans.

And a deal has been brokered with the property investment owners Ellandi for the freehold of the site including the former petrol filling station area, councillors were told.

Lidl is now proposing a smaller, 1064 sq metre store along with 147 car parking spaces - 51 more than in the original plans.

Shouts of ‘red herring’ greeted the offer to revamp the Station Road car park adding an extra 40 spaces with a revised layout.

As this didn’t form part of the planning application it was ruled out of the discussion by chairman Clare Hunt.

Currently there are 190 spaces in the Crown Glass Place.

Ellandi director Mark Robinson wanted the Lidl scheme to form part of a £10 million regeneration of the town centre but even moving the children’s playground to Clevedon Walk proved contentious with councillors labelling it ‘dangerously inappropriate’.

Resident Sarah Hearne said if the project got the go-ahead the construction on a sloped site would take more than six months.

And another resident Cynthia Dodds said claims that most of the retailers at Crown Glass supported the plans were ‘spurious’ as the greengrocers Birchalls and bakers Greggs were both against.

“Ellandi are doing this for its own benefit – not for the good of the town,” she said.

Councillor David Packham said: “We need to encourage shops in the town centre including Lidl.

“However this application as it is falls short of expectations and given no one has spoken to the medical centre is just extraordinary and probably reflects the way Lidl has taken this whole business.”

Mr Packham added that the review of car parking at Nailsea has highlighted a problem with long term parking which is something this town council needs to examine.

Ann Tonkin said: “I shop at Lidl at least once a month but I don’t think the architecture of the proposal would fit in with the street scene of Stockway South.”

Mary Ponsonsby said: “I think we are well served for supermarkets and I don’t think there is sufficient money in the town for another store.

“An application for a new supermarket must add to existing car parking not take away.”

Mary Blatchford called the plans ‘not thought out’ and although she wasn’t against Lidl coming to Nailsea she was sceptical about deals that had been reneged on by the budget store in other towns.

Jan Barber said: “The main issues for me are the loss of the car parking, the loss of the disabled spaces and the displacement of the car parking.

“Even if they carried it through and Station Road car parking was improved it is quite a long way to walk if you have lots of shopping.

“Another consideration for me is the aesthetics of the building – it will spoil the entrance to the town centre.” 

Anita Heappey told the meeting that although she never shopped in Nailsea preferring to go to Bedminster many parents with young children were very much in favour of the Lidl coming to the town.

Liz Frappell said her family had been in the retail trade in Nailsea for more than 70 years and that currently the town was losing out to Portishead.

She felt it was mostly the older generation who didn’t like change who were opposed to the plans.

Neil Middleton said Lidl would need 50 spaces alone for its staff and customers and called for the architect to be sacked.

John Wilson said the car park was designed to be just that by town planners when the shopping centre was built 50 years ago and he was opposed to any change of use.

Making her maiden speech new councillor Jule Petford said: “It is a no-brainer building in the car park.”

Phil Barclay worried about levels of Christ Church Close and Stockway South and said the whole exercise was a money making venture for the owners of the shopping precinct.

Planning and environment chairman James Tonkin summed up the salient points which will be forwarded to North Somerset Council planners who make the final decision.