Lidl site at Hamsey Green

The Sanderstead Councillors have posted some information about the site of The Good Companions at Hamsey Green. This land was purchased by Lidl who have tried unsuccessfully to get planning permission. See below for further information from our Councillors.

Lidl site at Hamsey Green
Residents will be familiar with the hoarded development site on the corner of Limpsfield Road and Tithe Pit Shaw Lane, owned by Lidl. The site has been largely abandoned for some years following the unsuccessful plans to build a Lidl supermarket on the site and has been left to deteriorate, attracting graffiti and fly-tipping.
It appears that following numerous design consultations and pre-application meetings with Croydon’s planning department, Lidl are currently preparing to undertake a public consultation with local residents on some revised proposals.
Leaflets will be delivered to local residents which will provide details of their latest proposed scheme and give residents the opportunity to provide their feedback either at an in-person event to be held in Hamsey Green or online.
In the meantime, the hoarding is to be fully repaired and redecorated and it will be extended to cover the two houses at the end of the site in Tithe Pit Shaw Lane, to prevent any further fly tipping in the driveways. Additionally, they are organising a full clear up of the site and will be pruning the overgrown hedges and weeds.
It is not uncommon for developers to arrange a ‘soft’ consultation of this nature to gauge public opinion and to feed comments into the nature and design of a scheme, before making a formal planning application. Naturally, once a formal application is submitted, this would be subject to the full public consultation process.
We await news of Lidl’s plans….

There has also been an article from Inside Croydon on this subject:

After 12 years, Lidl set to unveil plans for Hamsey Green store

Posted on February 14, 2025 by insidecroydon

More than a decade after the German supermarket chain paid £2million for the Good Companions pub at Hamsey Green, Lidl are primed to submit a revised planning application for the long-derelict site at the outermost edge of Croydon.

Derelict site: the Good Companions was bought for £2m and demolished more than a decade ago. The hoardings have been up ever since…

Having thwarted the bats and newts lobby – mainly by removing from the site all the trees in which any bats might have been roosting – the bargain-priced superstore business will still have to overcome the many objections raised to their previous attempts to develop the site, which focused on anticipated traffic congestion and the dangers to children attending the two schools along Tithepit Shaw Lane.

Other proposed developments in the neighbourhood, the building of housing on playing fields further south on Limpsfield Road (in Tandridge’s local authority area), may also need to be a factor in planners’ future considerations.

The German retail giant’s first planning application was in 2013, and was subject to objections from, among others, Sanderstead’s Conservative councillors. Those plans were rejected by Croydon planners, and Lidl also lost their appeal to the Planning Inspector for traffic and safety reasons.

A subsequent application, in 2016, would have seen homes demolished to make way for a two-storey building comprising a supermarket and four two-bedroom flats on the first floor, with a car park exit on Tithepit Shaw Lane within 30 feet of Hamsey Green School. It was suggested at the time that the store might attract 1,000 vehicles per day as well as regular visits by large delivery lorries. “It’s worse than before,” said objectors, who included local Tory MP Chris Philp.

Objections: previous Lidl buildings have been dismissedas just a big, ugly grey steel shed

But in the past few weeks, Croydon West’s Labour MP Sarah Jones received a letter on behalf of the developers.

The letter said: “Since our last planning application, we have been working diligently on this site with our consultant team to ensure that any revised proposals brought forward are carefully considered and that we can deliver a scheme that contributes to the local community.

“This has involved numerous design consultations and pre-application meetings with the Local Planning Authority over the last year.” That means Croydon’s planning department…

“We are now in a position to undertake public consultation with local residents. This is due to take place in February 2025 and we will shortly be issuing leaflets to local residents.

“The leaflets will provide details of the proposed scheme and the opportunity to provide their feedback either at an in-person event to be held in Hamsey Green or online…

“This feedback will be collated and reviewed prior to a formal planning application being submitted.”

Developer-run consultations usually deliver developer-friendly results. Inside Croydon would be keen to have sight of the Lidl leaflets if and when they drop on doormats in Warlingham.

Some locals remain sceptical. “The whole project has been a disaster,” one noted on social media.

“We do not need another supermarket. It really is a case of oversupply and the design Lidl want to install it is a case of overdevelopment of the plot.”