Former Herman Miller building Lower Bristol Road

We have been pressing the council hard to get the opposite end of the Herman Miller Building from Lidl developed.

So far planning permission has not been granted for this part of the building due to several hurdles that needed to be resolved, these included a shopping impact assessment that we understand is now completed and being assessed.

Our understanding is that it seems close to a decision being made on this site that may give the go ahead for the final stages of development.

Local residents have been constantly telling us that they are fed up with this building not being completed and we are hopeful that this will soon be resolved.

Lidl Opening delayed

We are disappointed to report that Lidl have informed us that they are unable to open their new store at the Former Herman Miller site on the Lower Bristol Road on 19th February.

Although the store is virtually finished and even has food and goods going on the shelves they will not be able to open on that date through no fault of their own.

Lidl had arranged as far back as last August for BT to carry out works to move one of their connection boxes that form part of the new entrance to the car park and even paid in advance for the work to be carried out.

BT for their part arrived on site last week after the intervention of the Council in assisting Lidl who could not get commitment from BT when they we going to carry out the required work.

BT state that the work could take 3 more weeks and that is what the delay is. We are sure that BT knew that the works would take this long when they were first approached by Lidl and if so why have they failed to organise themselves to meet their obligations.

It seems ironic that it is the same BT that delayed the opening of the new Sainsbury's store in Keynsham not so long ago.

We await the apology from BT to all our local residents who have waited so long for this store to open but this is with baited breath.

As to the date of the opening of Lidl we will keep residents informed.

New Lidl Store on target

Councillor Sharon Ball and Local Activist Sarah Moore at Lidl Site

During our walk around Westmoreland at the weekend, Councillor Sharon Ball and I visited the Lidl site to check on progress.

As you can see windows and cladding have been put in, the boarding has been taken down and work is moving at a great pace and whilst talking with workers on the site we can confirm they are on target for their scheduled opening on Thursday 19th February.

Following the advice and assistance provided to Lidl to overcome difficult planning issues that were encountered, Councillors Sharon Ball and Paul Crossley have been asked to officially open the store at 8am on the day.

by
Sarah Moore

Police in new accomodation

We know that the rumours are rife in the community regarding the Police relocating part of their operations to the Lower Bristol Road after selling their Police headquarters at Manvers Street to the University of Bath.

We are trying to get confirmation from various sources of the Police taking on the other half of the Former Herman Miller building next door to the new Lidl that is being developed.

We would be pleased as would many of the residents in the community if the Police were to take on this part of the building and would be keen to support the Police in such a move.

We will of course publish any information that we receive confirming this news.

It would be good to get this whole site cleared up and leave a nice clean acceptable entrance to our world Heritage site.

by Sarah Moore

Former Herman Miller Building

It is really good to see the progress on this site with the Lidl development speeding ahead. It is also good to have confirmation that Lidl will open in February.

Many people have been asking us what is going to happen to the other part of the building and why it is not being developed with the rest of the building.

The answer to the above is quite simple and is that the site is owned by two different owners who both have different ideas for the use of the building.

The part of the building that is not owned by Lidl has been causing us some concern so we have been making enquiries that has turned up some interesting information.

Although due to commercial sensitivity we can not reveal exactly what will happen to this part of the building,what we can reveal is that advanced negotiations have been taking place between the owner of the site and a potential user.

We would hope that we would be able to reveal the information about who may use this part of the building in the next few weeks and will do so on this blog.

Issues on Lidl Site

Overnight last night several travellers gained access to the car park area at the rear of the Lidl site via the eastern end of the site that is not owned by Lidl themselves.

We have been in contact with both the police and Lidl this morning who have promised to send representatives over to the site as soon as possible to get this resolved.

We will update you further as soon as we have more details.

by
Sarah Moore

Former Herman Miller Site

Lidl have confirmed that they have instructed contractors to cut the grass at the Former Herman Miller site early next week.

It is important that we keep this site in a clean and tidy state whilst we are waiting for construction of the new Lidl store.

Some initial work has commenced, however, we are still awaiting confirmation of when the main works will be undertaken.

We will update you further as soon as more information is known.

Lidl update

Just a short update on the progress since Lidl gained planning permission for the redevelopment of Part of the former Herman Miller site on the Lower Bristol Road.

I have had contact with Lidl in the past few days who tell me they are now putting together the development schedule for the site of which they have offered to share with me later this week and as soon as I have it it will feature heavily on this blog.

What they have told me is their commitment to ensuring the store is developed by the summer of this year so we can all look forward to some cheaper shopping in time for next Christmas.


By Councillor Sharon Ball

LIDL - Success at Last

After almost 6 years of waiting  for the former Herman Miller Factory site to be developed, Bath and North East Somerset Council's planning officers have today approved a planning application for Lidl to redevelop the site on the Lower Bristol Road.  This will see the area of the site owned by Lidl transformed over the coming months.

Westmoreland Councillor Sharon Ball (lib dem) said "this is great news for the local area, I have worked closely with representatives from Lidl over the past few years and am delighted this site will finally be developed.

Residents have been wanting this store for a long time and have become increasingly disappointed by the delays. It will not only mean a badly neglected site being cleaned up, but more local jobs being created."

Lidl are expected to start work immediately, with a view to the store being operational by mid 2014.

We are still awaiting news on what will happen with the other part of the site owned by Acornford Hampshire and will keep you updated as soon as we hear any more news.

by Sarah Moore

Lidl ( former Herman Miller building) update

Councillor Sharon Ball has again contacted Lidl asking them to secure the Old Herman Miller Building on the Lower Bristol Road after it was broken into.

The Pictures clearly show the damage that has been caused by this recent break in.

We have in the past been encouraged by the swift action that Lidl have taken when we have reported issues like this to them.

It is now very important that this building is developed as soon as possible as its condition is deteriorating rapidly.

The building currently has planning permission for the development of a Lidl Store and 3 other shops but the permission has not been enacted due to a disagreement with Lidl and their development partner over a legal agreement.

The Council are happy to issue the full planning permission once the partners agree on Legal issues and we understand that its not for the want of trying by both the Council and Lidl to try to resolve these issues.

Readers will be able to deduce that the problem is neither the Council or Lidl.

After our talks with Lidl recently we are now reasonably confident that these issues can be resolved in a relatively short period but each time we say that the time seems to get extended.

We will keep the pressure up on this issue and keep regular updates on this blog.

By Councillor Sharon Ball

Lidl former Herman Miller site

I had a good meeting with Lidl on Monday concerning the former Herman Miller building.

I came away from the meeting encouraged that the possibility of Lidl on the Lower Bristol Road site has moved  forward and we may soon see the reality of a Lidl in the not too distant future.

I am pleased to be able to report that Lidl are planning to tidy up this site and will be removing the graffiti from the building at our request.

It is very important that we keep this building clean and tidy as this area is a gateway into the World Heritage site.

Former Herman Miller Building

The signs of an empty building is that graffiti starts to appear on the outside of the building

I have asked the Graffiti that has started to appear over the past few weeks is removed as soon as possible as well as some of the rubbish that has been recently deposited at the back and the sides.

Lidl Lower Bristol Road

Sharon & Sarah Moore on site

I have had a very good meeting with Lidl on the Herman Miller site on the Lower Bristol Road Last Week.

The meeting was supposed to include Mr Ian Caukwell who owns part of the land who pulled out of the meeting at the last moment and did not turn up despite assurances that he would.

Lidl have restated their determination to deliver a store on the site and I would hope that Mr Caukwell would also show his resolve and allow this development to move forward.



By Cllr Sharon Ball