LIDL has renewed its bid to build a supermarket after being knocked back by council planners and the government.

The German supermarket giant is trying again to get a branch built on the northern edge of Royal Wotton Bassett.

The company applied in 2019 to build a store on land at Marsh Farm on Malmesbury Road - very close to the roundabout junction with the A3102 into the town.

The site is on the edge of town where it becomes largely open countryside.

That application was turned down both by Wiltshire Council, and on appeal, by the government’s appointed planning inspector.

The issue was the design and appearance of the building and its impact on the open countryside - and not the principle of building a supermarket there.

Now Lidl has returned with a new design.

And it says most of the site will be used for a public open green space, including a large pond.

Whereas the original application had the store and car park positioned right up to Malmesbury Road, the new plan set is back behind a line of greenery.

Lidl says: “The reinforcement of existing hedgerows around the site, and the creation of a new native woodland to the north east, will help to contain views of the site, particularly from the north, and will also create biodiversity benefits.

“The open space allows open views from the existing settlement edge to the north and also provides new opportunities for walkers, particularly since the site is accessible via a pedestrian crossing over Malmesbury Road.

It adds: “The new public open space would also include new wetlands which have been designed in order to optimise biodiversity, including gently grading banks to the main pond and a south-facing shelf below water level for the establishment of a reed bed.

“The design incorporates a circular walk around the lake, and also the option for pedestrians to move between the Lidl supermarket car park and the open space. Benches would be provided along the paths.

“The design thus forms an appropriate transition between the settlement edge and open countryside to the north.”

The application says that as the site is right on the edge of the built-up part of Royal Wootton Bassett the development “is unlikely to significantly change the character of the area or the setting of the settlement".

It adds: “Importantly, the application site would not extend further to the north than existing developments at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground or Marsh Farm Hotel.”

Comments on the proposal can be made using the reference number PL/2022/05273 on wiltshire.gov.uk. The deadline is September 1.