I haven't seen the article yet (did look last night but noticed it wasnt on their website). Yes unfortunately they are back working, every time I come home from work the building seems to be getting bigger (how they can say this warehouse fits in with the conservation area is beyond me) and there is going to be very little car parking spaces from what space will be left. The building is higher than Somerfield as I used to be able to look across to Somerfield but when the roof of the 'warehouse' is finished I won't see anything including my lovely view I had of the Pentlands. I have lived in Imrie Place for over 25 years and to say that I am so disapointed and disheartened is an understatement, between Lidl and fighting to get my car parked because the people visiting the snooker hall seem incapable of walking too far its a nightmare. As soon as I can get my house in order my lovely house will be going on the market and I know many other residents feel the same way.

Article and pics in this week's Advertiser - not every article is online. Try buying a copy!

It was heavy this week, the weight of all the steel in the photo of Imrie Place - all I can say is shocking! Absolutely discraceful whats going on there.

Hi

Although i am looking forward to this shop opening, especially as Summerfield seems to be getting worse every time i go in. I really didnt appreciate the awful blot on the landscape it would cause.

What size is it going to end up and how much parking is there going to be as there doesnt look much space left.

Is there another car park planed for the center?

The new flats/units being build in the precinct will be bringing in car users to were are they to park.

No good having shops if we cant park our cars to get to them. It is all well and good using the bus but not for weekly shop.

I don't think anyone appreciated how big this development was going to be, everyone that I have spoken to about it is absolutely appalled by it, I have even had strangers coming up to me in the street expressing their shock. As far as they plans go the frame work that is now up is the final building and the small piece of empty space to the left of that (as you face the building from the main road) will be the car parking but there won't be much, i think the orginal plan was around 50 spaces but I doubt if there will be that now. It turns out though that Lidl do not actually own this building so they have not had much to do with the building of it, they are only leasing it from the developer.

As far as a new car park goes, there won't be one, there isn't any space to put more car parking but I am sure the council took all this in to consideration when it was all passed, they must be expecting masses of people as there will be a pedestrian crossing at either side of the new roadabout at somerfield.

I drove past the structure on Friday afternoon and was shocked as how big it actually is.

As previous posters have said, there looks like no room for parking. Think of the lorries that will have to come in with goods, that will take up a whole load of space.

However, will the 'old' bus stop not be levelled out and cars to park in that site? i.e. is the wonderful roundabout just a temporary solution?

As far as I know the round-a-bout is a permanant fixture and I don't think there was anything on the plans about extending out from the old bus stop but that's probably been passed on the quiet as well.

So :-)

Why the need for the new bus stop on the corner?

Probably making this up, but I seem to remember reading somewhere this was why the othe rbus stop was being made?!? Or should I go back to sleep...

I could be wrong but I think the reason they moved the bus stop to the corner is because they probably couldn't have buses stopping on the roadabout when people are trying to get out of Lidl car park as there can be 3 or 4 buses coming into that stop within a few minutes of each other and thats not including the 15 and 141 that sit there when they are early.

Didn't know that the old bus stop was going to be the entrance and exit for the shop.

it has to be the entrance and the exit as there is no other way for you to get in. Imrie Place is completely sealed off as the building is right back to where the entrance to the car park used to be in Imrie Place.

You can read the story now at:

http://www.midlothianadvertiser.co.uk/news/39Dismay39-over-Penicuik-Lidl-store.4974226.jp

But no pictures I am afraid to say. I imagine that next time LJR apply for any building work they will get masses of objections just for the sake of it. People in Imrie Place will have the same sort of view that Ladywood residents got when the Edinburgh Crystal warehouse was put up a few years ago - look what happened to that!

I had to go along to Penicuik centre today for the first time for a while. I must admit I was somewhat surprised at how big the Lidl store is going to be. I never imagined that a building that size would occupy the space that was available The remaining car park doesn't look very big though.

When I first looked at the plans submitted by LJR they appeared very little different from the ones that had been passed in 2000 (if I've got the year right) for Dunedin. The building in Imrie Place was then intended to be a bar/restaurant (as I'm sure the local residents will remember!) but the layout was pretty much the same — roundabout, new entrance, new bus lay-by.
On that basis there seemed no point in objecting especially since the understanding was that the Lidl building would not substantially (we were led to believe) block the view from Imrie Place, at least not any more than the bar/restaurant would have done.
I also made a point of counting the number of car parking spaces on the detailed plan and while I can't remember the exact split, the changes to the layout of the two car parks did mean an increase in the total number of spaces.
The only problem, which LJR were asked to change, was the size of the lay-by considering how many more buses there were passing through the town centre than in 2000. It is now wide enough to accomodate "layovers" by the 141 and 15 as well as through services at the same time.
Like a lot of people I was pleased to see Lidl moving to Penicuik. The food shops need a shake-up and Lidl also has the reputation of drawing in other good retailers as well. Just what we need. But I was also horrified to see what was actually being built. I won't go so far as to say we were misled but there's not much doubt that this is not the building most of thought was going in there.