West Devon Borough Council has rejected proposals for a new Lidl store in Okehampton due to concerns about the potential impact on the town centre, road safety and the environment.

The council’s Development Management and Licensing Committee followed the planning officer’s recommendation to refuse the application. The officer’s report raised concerns about a significant adverse impact on the vitality and viability of Okehampton town centre. It also identified highway safety risks near the A30 junction, the loss of a locally significant lowland meadow, insufficient drainage information, and the effect on the Dartmoor landscape.

Okehampton Hamlets parish councillor Jan Goffey said: “There may be a lot of support, but the public do not always realise the full impact of proposals like these. Everyone recognises the several hundred new houses on Crediton Road need a local shop; however, this fails to meet that need as it is too far to walk and carry shopping home. Basically, it is on the wrong A road.

“Secondly, the two access roads from the A30 — one from the Exeter end and one from the Launceston side, opposite the proposed entrance — are a concern. Cars come flying round the bend and there are already a lot of near misses, as drivers do not know the expanse of side roads affecting access to the town. With commuter traffic from the new station, and when the A30 is closed or at holiday time, the alternative route is through Okehampton town centre. The thought of cars trying to access this already fraught situation to get in or out of an additional business is terrifying.”

Some residents supported the proposal, stating that a supermarket on the east side of Okehampton would serve new housing developments and improve access to shopping. Supporters argued that the store would offer a more convenient location for those living outside the town centre, reduce the need to travel into Okehampton for groceries, and help ease pressure on existing stores.

However, councillor for Buckland Monachorum and chair of the West Devon Development Management and Licensing Committee, Ric Cheadle, argued that the location, though convenient for residents on the east side of town, would negatively affect the town centre.

He said: “I’m very concerned about anything that would damage a town centre. We have seen over the last 20 years changes, and some town centres have ceased to be town centres because there’s so little of interest in them, people don’t come. The majority of people supporting this application said they supported it because they would no longer have to go into Okehampton for their shopping.

“It suggests that people will change their habits if there’s a store here and not go into Okehampton in the volumes they used to, and that in turn will damage the centre of Okehampton.”

Lidl had encouraged residents to support the application by submitting comments ahead of the committee meeting.