Supermarket giant Lidl plans to redevelop two Peterborough car parks into new attractive city gateway

Supermarket chain Lidl has put together a consortium with the intention of redeveloping two city centre car parks.

Proposals for the council to sell off both the adjacent Dickens Street car park and the Wellington Street car park will be put before the city council’s cabinet on Monday (October 16).

Lidl already owns the Dickens Street site and has put together plans for a “comprehensive regeneration” of the area.

The proposal includes residential, food and drink, electrical car charging and retail uses.

Council documents state that the scheme “could deliver social and environmental benefits for new and existing communities in the form of new development, employment, new homes, and an attractive gateway to the city centre.”

A portion of the Dickens Street car park has already been sold to Lidl and planning permission for a new supermarket there was refused due to highway concerns.

The proposal would see the council sell off the remaining part of the car park that currently serves the The Afro Caribbean Millennium Centre.

The council has said that the car park was not well used and had the lowest income per space per day of all its car parks.

Wellington Street is also said to perform below average for the income it generates per space and the number of transactions per space.

The council’s cabinet are voting on whether or not to dispose of the land on Monday and any new development would be subject to planning permission.