Okehampton Town Council this week voted to object to an amended planning application for a new Lidl store on the east of the town.

At a meeting on Monday (January 26), councillors agreed that a supermarket was needed on the east of the town, but multiple members raised concerns over the safety of the site, located in Stockley along Exeter Road. Councillors argued that under the current plans traffic issues would be exacerbated by the presence of a supermarket on an already busy road which is known to residents as an accident hotspot.

Cllr Laura Bird said: “I think it’d be great to have a supermarket on that side of town to serve people in all the new houses. But I also agree that the plot of land they’ve chosen is just the wrong place. When I think about supermarkets that I go to, you drive in and there’s usually a long, windy road in case there is a tailback. From the planning for Lidl, you drive in and immediately there’s parking. That road is such a busy road. We’d be looking at accidents and problems.”

A member of the public also voiced worries that a new supermarket at that location would have a negative impact on pollution levels, the water system serving the east of the town, and Dartmoor’s scenery.

However, it was not a unanimous agreement. Cllrs Terry Cummings and Bob Tolley proposed submitting a neutral response to the borough council because research was still taking place and the council had yet to receive all the information.

Cllr Cummings said: “I think that if we vote against now, we may not be able to put something right in the future. All these things that have been raised are being covered in their documents, and they’re being challenged by the highways departments and various other people to come up with alternative ways of doing these things. There’s still information gathering. I just think we need to be very careful.”

Currently, over 200 letters from members of the public have been submitted to the borough council, which is responsible for approving planning applications, in support of the proposal but only around 50 letters of objection and critical responses from several official consultees including Devon County Council and National Highways.

In August 2025, Lidl submitted an application for a new, larger store on the greenfield site off Exeter Road, which would replace its current store on School Way. The proposed store would provide 121 customer parking spaces, six disabled parking spaces, nine parent-and-child spaces, two electric vehicle charging stations and cycle parking.

After concerns were raised over the initial application, Lidl submitted an amended proposal this month with a minor reduction in parking, additional landscaping and tree planting and further details on levelling the site and providing a retaining wall.

To view the planning application, visit the West Devon Borough Council planning portal and search for 2354/25/FUL.