North West Leicestershire District Council says that a 'loss of office space' is no reason to refuse Lidl planning permission to build a new supermarket in Ashby.

Lidl's application to demolish the existing Ashfield House in Resolution Road, and construct a store on the site, was questioned by the council due to the loss of an office facility.

But Lidl, via a real estate agent JLL, said that a number of companies had shown interest in Ashfield House, but no-one had followed it up with an offer.

The budget supermarket chain maintains it was the only business to show serious interest in buying the site.

Lidl maintains that it is wrong to suggest its scheme will destroy sought-after office space.

Ashfield House would be demolished if the scheme goes ahead. Photo: Instantstreetview.com

The council says it is 'regrettable' that office space will be lost, but better that than have the building stand empty.

North West Leicestershire District Council has now issued a response which says: "Taking the JLL information at face value, there was no confirmed interest from an office occupier. Potential investors cited a lack of demand for office premises of this type. 

"Two parties showed an interest in using the site for B2/B8 purposes which are uses that fall within the scope of the Existing Employment Area designation. Neither progressed to an offer to purchase. 

"The property was marketed for up to five months before Lidl made its offer. 

Taken as a whole, this is considered to be sufficient to demonstrate that there was no realistic prospect of an office occupier coming forward over a reasonable timeframe.

"Similarly, the interest that there was for other policy-compliant uses did not progress to an offer.

Lidl's site plan for the planned new development. Image: Lidl

"This is not to say an office occupier would not come forward in due course, but a test of the market indicated little/no office demand at the time these premises were available for purchase. 

"The loss of good quality offices is regrettable, however neither is it beneficial to have a building standing empty for an extended period waiting for an office occupier to materialise.

"In this case, the loss of office space is not considered to be a reason to refuse the application."