A busy town centre supermarket could be demolished and replaced with a new two-storey store.

Plans to build a new 2,622sq m Lidl on the site of the current Ripple Road store in Barking will be discussed by the council’s Development Control Board on Monday night.

If planning permission is granted, an undercroft and surface level car park with 68 spaces would be built with customer accesses to the first-floor shopping level via a travelator.

However Barking and Dagenham Council officers have advised councillors to reject the proposals on the grounds they “do not maximise the development potential of the

site”.

The council believes proposals should offer a mixed-use scheme with homes above the store, something the German discount retailers are not keen on, arguing it would restrict their ability to extend in the future.

A total of 247 neighbouring occupiers were consulted in November while the three-week consultation period expired a month later – neither drew any objections.

The plans would increase the current store by 177sq m.

What do you think of the plans?

Email mark.shales@archant.co.uk or call 0208 477 3824.