A new supermarket being built outside of Chard’s town centre “will not hamper” plans to regenerate the town, the district council has claimed.

Planning officers at South Somerset District Council have approved plans for the German supermarket giant Lidl to build a new, more modern store on Tapstone Road, opposite the Tesco petrol station.

The town’s existing store on Boden Street, near the public library, will close once the new store is constructed, with all of the staff being transferred across to the new site.

The council said this decision would not jeopardise its efforts to regenerate Chard’s town centre, and added that it hoped that the soon-to-be-vacant unit would be filled by another company before very long.

A spokesman said: “The new Lidl store application was referred to the relevant ward member under the scheme of delegation, and the officer’s recommendation to approve was supported. The development did not meet the threshold to be referred directly to the area west committee.

“The application was not referred directly to the Chard Regeneration Board but they were aware of the application, with no comments being received from the board.

“We believe that Lidl’s move will not hamper the Chard regeneration proposals, and we are keen and optimistic that a new occupier for the vacant building will be found reasonably soon.”

Under the scheme of delegation, the councillor who represents the area in question is contacted by the planning officers to give comments on the plans and to indicate whether they approve of the recommended decision.

If the ward member does not agree with the officers, they can ask that the application come to the appropriate area committee – area west, in this case – where the issues can be discussed in public session and voted upon.

The new store would fall within the Jocelyn ward of Chard, represented by councillor Dave Bulmer – who indicated in May that he agreed with the officers’ intention to approve the plans.

The Lidl site is not included within the council’s regeneration proposals, which centre around building a new leisure centre and swimming pool on the former ACI factory site.

Members of the public are still able to have their say on the regeneration proposals, and can submit their comments to the council online by visiting www.southsomerset.gov.uk/business/chard-regeneration.