The plans for Lidl in Penicuik, Imrie Place etc.

So all the doctors, residents of Imrie Place and Kirkhill Road are Luddites for objecting to looking on to a Lidl. I am sure if it was being built right in front of your house you would have plenty to say about it! obviously the shop isn't going to magically appear.

if you have an emergency and call a doctor don't expect them to respond quickly as half the doctors can't even get parking in the surgery car park and are parked at the other end of the street or further.

If people can't park they won't shop!!

And how are they going to shop when you want the best chance of a decent supermarket in the town centre AND one that is known to bring other retailers in its wake stopped because it happens to be outside your front door?
No I wouldn't like it outside mine either, but then I had enough brain power not to live in a town centre where you are likely to get .... shops! That's what town centres are for.
Admit it ...... you lost! Live with it.
And apart from the original objection I haven't heard the staff at the Health Centre complaining lately, at least not officially. There is disabled parking at the back; there has been no difficulty with access for those who need it.
There are going to be temporary parking problems. What did you expect?

What are the plans for parking once the shop is finished? I am assuming it will have its own carpark. Will this be open to all and how big will it be. Is another area going to be created for parking in the center?

Why are they digging up the bushes at the from of the drs? Someone said to put a new road in but I am confused. Not hard lol.

the actual Lidl will be built where the entrance to Imrie Place car park used to be and down the side beside the snooker hall. The rest will be car parking but at this stage I don't know what the rules will be for parking as the whole piece of land is now owned by Lidl and not Euro Car parks anymore.

They are digging outside the doctor surgery as this is where the new bus stop will placed. Where the bus stop is at the moment will be taken away and this will be the only entrance/exit into Lidl. from what I can remember of the plans there is also a roundabout to go here to. Although this part of the plans had not been passed when the residents got there letters advising of what was happening for fears of road safety as its not exactly safe having a bus stop round a blind corner on a main road, but it looks like its going ahead or they have changed the plans to accommodate this. The poor bus drivers won't be able to sit and read their papers there if they are early now.

Quote :

its not exactly safe having a bus stop round a blind corner on a main road, but it looks like its going ahead or they have changed the plans to accommodate this. The poor bus drivers won't be able to sit and read their papers there if they are early now.

Certainly the angle going into it looks a bit tight but the original plans have been changed to make it wide enough for two buses and long enough to avoid any problem when buses are leaving it. It should still be possible to lay-over in it.
We'll need to wait and see how easy it is for 15/141 buses to negotiate the roundabout. That might be fun!

Well I am getting fed up with people moaning about the mess the center is in and how we dont need another supermarket. How short peoples memories are. Somerfield is rubbish Lidle will be a big asset. I am certanly looking forward to it opening. I am concerned about parking so hope that has been covered by the powers that be.

One pensioner was moaning she would never use the new shop because the entrance would be in Imrie place and to much for her to walk up to. When I said it would be at the bus stop she was livid because the bus stop was moving. Cant win. Some people dont like change. Some people like to moan for the sake of moaning. Of course the place looks a mess have you ever seen a building site that doesnt.

It looks as if it is going to be a few months before Lidl is finally open http://www.midlothianadvertiser.co.uk/news/Work-starts-on-Penicuik-shop.4659454.jp

I see that Aldi have now been granted the building warrant to demolish the former Nobles workshops on Eastfield Drive so we can now expect a race between them and Lidl to see who gets their shop open first in "Spring 2009"

gonzo wrote:

The rest will be car parking but at this stage I don't know what the rules will be

I vote parking there will be some on some sort of mystical terms no one really knows or wants to know. Like the lidl's at Dalkeith - there's a pay machine there, some sign with a vague 2 hour limit written on it (if I recall correctly, or perhaps it's patrons only) but really everyone uses it. Quite bizarre too, is that they "bollarded off" one section of the car park, making in effect what was one part for Lidl's, and one part seemingly for public use. But now the bollards have gone.

I reckon in the end we'll get the guy who patrols the Somerfield car park with steely proficiency expanding his patch into this new area.

For those of you who haven't been along past Somerfield this week, a word of warning - the wee round thing in the middle of the road next to Somerfield and our new fabulous Lidl is a Roundabout!! I have been looking out my window this morning and I am amazed at the amount of people who seem incapable of using it correctly. Please be very, very careful as most people are not giving way and seem to think the roundabout is just for the buses!

So they have started to actually construct the new Lidl store and no doubt it will be completed very quickly since it does not take long to bolt the girders together etc. It will be interesting to see how Somerfield and Tesco react to the competition, though it seems that nothing is happening at Aldi currently.

yes, I came home last night to discover the horrendous construction! All the residents of Imrie Place were told that it would be dug down and all we would see would be a bit of the roof! however, the construction is the same height as the houses in the street and I now face a warehouse with no view or light!

well, I and all the residents of Imrie Place have apparently inundated the Council with complaints today about the size of the building. Apparently the architect they had has been sacked, the builders have not touched the construction all day and it is apparently in the hands of Lidl lawyers now as the architect etc are Irish and were unaware of Scottish Planning Regulations and have not bothered to follow the plans so it looks like all those Lidl lovers may have to wait a bit longer

All work on site has now been suspended until Tuesday.

I was going to say that you must have been mistaken - the cooncil would never tell any stories like that, but your later updates show that somebody has made a major cockup of the whole situation.
It will be interesting to see what happens next.

somewhere along the line somebody has got it wrong. Lidl have now apparently brought in their own architects which are based in Glasgow and there is to be a meeting with them and Midlothian Council before any work can resume. We also have an MSP on board to make sure it is done correctly. This building does not fit in at all with the conservation area.

To say the residents of the street are outraged is an understatement.

An MSP on board, eh? One can only hope that the "outraged" of Penicuik haven't enlisted the help of a certain MSP whose main claim to fame is jumping on every passing bandwagon. The only help said MSP is likely to provide is for their own publicity-seeking purposes - they're known for even turning up at the opening of an envelope if they think it'll get their face in the papers!

LOL!!! I know exactly who you mean, they swan about Penicuik think there wonderful but its not them.

I have since heard back from the council now saying that the architect has not been dismissed from the project but the council are looking into the planning side of things. Someone somewhere has changed their story as this what we were told last week or maybe it was the fact that the email I copied the council into was going to the press as I did seem to get a very swift reply from them .

Thanks for the update Gonzo. That sounds pretty standard with the ever-changing-stories as they try to figure out a decent excuse for making a total mess of the project.
I am now just waiting for the first big crash at the roundabout - already seen a few near misses as people stop half way round since they don't realise that it is a roundabout so they have the right of way. A few signs would help along with correct markings on the road, but what else can we expect from our good friends at the cooncil!

well, we have another update from the council. They did find that they had breached the terms of the planning and that the roof is 600mm too high but not enough to warrant taking further action and they are now continuing on with the eyesore. The person from the council also advised in her email that over 124 people objected to the project when plans were submitted in 2007 but that obviously accounted for nothing. I am amazed that with so many objections this project even got off the ground - only two words that sum it all up 'MONEY TALKS!!!'

Since the cooncil are a bit skint now
(see this week's Advertiser and the article at:
http://www.midlothianadvertiser.co.uk/news/Midlothian-Council-agrees-new-round.4946203.jp
I imagine they will have accepted a "financial settlement" to cover the breach of planning laws.
2 feet of a difference in the height is certainly going to have a big effect on the residents of Imrie Place, especially as it will probably be one of those steel clad buildings you normally see on industrial estates.
The number of objections to the plan would only encourage the cooncil to pass it - they seem to enjoy passing things which have many people opposed to them (eg. houses in Penicuik, A701 dual carriageway) just for the fun of it. Maybe we should try importing some councillors from abroad who would be cheaper and certainly not do such a bad job as the current shower!

I took a wander down to the centre & to be honest wondered what the fuss was about - Until I noticed the roof line and the houses at the back of it, so no wonder there is a bit of concern. Usual story though, I know of someone who has just thrown up a house extension without any of the neighbours getting wind of it, up until workmen asked for access to the garden of the house next door to pull the fence down, the planning permission went in a couple of days later and no doubt will be passed.
I know we all want life to be injected back into the town centre, but should the developers really get away with this?

No way should they be getting away with it. First off the developers illegally removed trees from Imrie Place a couple of which were over 50 years old and they got away with a slap on the wrist and told to put semi mature trees back in its place and now they are getting away with the height of the building. In the scale of things yes, 2ft isn't much but I am sure if it was at the planning departments front door they would be the first ones to fight it all the way. When it effects so many residents there should proper notification and not just a letter posted with basic details of what might be getting built.

Well, we are stuck with it now but Lidl have managed to hack everyone off that are right on their door step and I won't be in their shop. Apparently there will be a piece in next weeks Midlothian Advertiser about it so reserve your copy at your newsagent now - oh! thats right, we don't have a newsagent now - Penicuik Patheticuik !!!

Good article in this week's Advertiser (unfortunately not on the website though) about the Lidl store. Now that they are back working again you can really see what a monstrosity it is going to be. I am sure that is is higher then Somerfield or Tesco which is totally unnecessary since the roof section will just be empty space.
As for the roundabout - when are they going to put some warning signs up and paint the lines on the road? No doubt we have to wait for a few accidents before that happens.