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Lidl Supermarket Approved for Heathcote Lane in Warwick

Warwick District Council's Planning Committee approved a Lidl store at Europa House, Heathcote Lane, on 13 October 2026, with a new crossing and two bus stops.

By Alex Harrington 2 min read Source: Warwick District Council
Heathcote Lane in Warwick seen from the Europa Way roundabout, with pine trees and an industrial building on the left and a direction sign for Heathcote industrial estates
Heathcote Lane from the Europa Way roundabout. Photo: David P Howard, CC BY-SA 2.0

A new Lidl supermarket can be built on Heathcote Lane in Warwick. Warwick District Council’s Planning Committee approved the plan on Tuesday 13 October 2026, subject to a legal agreement. The store would replace Europa House, the empty office and industrial building at the roundabout where Europa Way (A452) meets Heathcote Lane, on the edge of the Heathcote Industrial Estate.

On this page
  1. What’s been approved
  2. Why it was argued over
  3. When will it open?

The application (W/25/0728, from Lidl Great Britain Ltd) went to the committee because of the number of objections, including one from Warwick Town Council. Councillors had been due to decide it in September, but it was held back so officers could get more clarity on whether a site in a town centre should have come first.

What’s been approved

  • Size: a store of up to 2,185 square metres, with no more than 1,516 square metres of shop floor. At least 80% of that has to be food and everyday groceries, so it can’t turn into a big non-food store.
  • Parking: 122 spaces, including 6 disabled bays, 9 parent and child spaces and 5 for motorbikes. The council’s own standard would ask for 156; officers and county highways accepted fewer, given the new bus stops and crossing and Lidl’s evidence from similar stores.
  • Hours: no customers, deliveries or bin collections before 7am or after 11pm.
  • Roads and buses: a new toucan crossing over Heathcote Lane, finished before the store opens, and £48,300 from Lidl towards two new bus stops on Heathcote Lane.

Why it was argued over

Big shops outside town centres have to pass a “sequential test”: the applicant must show there’s no suitable site in or next to a town centre first. Objectors said Covent Garden car park in Leamington should have been looked at. The council, which owns that car park, told officers it isn’t likely to be free for about three years, and its retail consultant said it was too small anyway. Officers concluded the test was met.

The officers’ report lists 12 objections, including the Leamington Society, about losing business land, traffic, the junction, mature trees and the effect on town centres, plus one letter of support. The Town Council’s concerns were about walking and cycling to the site across a busy junction, the number of disabled and electric charging spaces, and the single way in. Warwick Nub News, which first reported the decision, says Tesco and the Co-op paid planning consultants to challenge the plan.

When will it open?

No opening date has been given. The legal agreement on the crossing and bus stops has to be signed first; if it isn’t done within three months, the council can refuse the application instead. Once permission is issued, Lidl has three years to start building.

For getting around south Warwick in the meantime, see Warwick road closures this week, and for other places to shop and eat, our guide to eating out in Warwick.

Alex Harrington