LIDL has said it still has no definite plans to build a new supermarket in Stroud.
In a brief one line statement, a spokeswomen told the SNJ: “I can confirm Stroud is an area of interest for Lidl, but we haven't got any confirmed sites.”
Many residents in the town had been expecting the budget supermarket to build a new store at the site of Stroud Metal Company in Dudbridge.
In April 2015, a three-way supermarket showdown between a trio of different industrial sites in Stroud ended with a surprise victory for Dudbridge Road, which had been unofficially linked with Lidl.
At the time, the German supermarket had expressed interest in the site and had been in close negotiations with the landowner Matthew Large.
The planning application for an unspecified supermarket had been put in by the site owner, rather than Lidl itself.
But after permission was secured by Stroud District Council’s development control committee, Lidl never made a move to progress their plans, signalling the deal had stalled.
Currently the manufacturing site still has planning permission for a store. It is unclear whether negotiations are still ongoing between the two parties.
However in its statement Lidl hinted it was still looking at sites in the Stroud area.
The update comes after a planning application for Aldi at the Bath Road Trading Estate in Dudbridge was rejected at the end of 2016.
Aldi has not yet confirmed whether it will appeal the decision by Stroud District Council.
The Stroud Metal site is a large industrial area which lies near the River Frome, and within a stone’s throw of Sainsbury’s.
In 2015 councillors on SDC voted against their own planning officer’s advice and overlooked an Asda on the Daniels Estate off the A46 and another at Brunsdon’s Yard in Ryeford.
In the end the plan for a supermarket on Stroud Metal was approved by just one vote.
Many had welcomed the addition of a budget supermarket to the town, while others had argued Stroud was already too saturated with large stores.
Lidl already has stores in Cirencester, Dursley and Gloucester.
At the time the decision from SDC had been welcomed by Mr Large, who said it would allow Stroud Metal to move to a bigger premises.
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