Lidl and M&S on hook for 270,000 sq ft Formby commercial scheme

M&S are looking to destroy Formby. No public transport at the moment. More chaos to bypass
People walk to village.

I’m still absolutely gobsmacked that we continue to build these out of town retail parks. They’re absolute town-killers. A sea of asphalt traffic generating car parks. We know that building apartments on top of retail that has a street frontage is the best way to solve the jobs and housing crisis in one go. These developments solve neither.

What if I haven’t got a car

This move of M&S is crazy. Currently residents of Formby can walk to the store and this store already has a wide food offering. The move to across the bypass will encourage increased use of cars. Makes no sense from a sustainability aspect.

So here is yet another example of M&S, a business always banging on about its environmental credentials, wanting to move a store in a very sustainable town centre location people can walk to, to somewhere out on a bypass.
The existing store isn’t particularly small, and there is plenty of scope for an imaginative re-think of the Cloisters shops, about to come up for sale at auction, probably by reducing the large car park at the back.
One would hope the Sefton Planning Committee thinks it’s worth protecting existing town centres, but they aren’t generally big on logic or consistency.

M&S have to make business decisions and this offers them the opportunity to deliver a fuller range to customers, so that`s a plus.
I `m not sure why people are blaming M&S as they are not the developers , also Formby has a decent Waitrose in the town and no other location in the Liverpool City Region can boast that I think. Anyway eventually I bet there`ll be a shuttle bus to this area for those without cars.

Because we need another coffee shop, supermarket and discount supermarket. Build houses on it if the need is so desperate.

I thought these dinosaurs were extinct

@December 05, 2024 at 2:55 pm
By Tannoy

Lidl, no (new kid on the block). M&S, no (but has evolved into a smarter, nimbler species).
Out of town retail though – where’s that sweet asteroid?…

Aren’t bypasses built to bypass places – not to relocate them and their congestion?

From a previous helpful article here, The Cloisters is being sold and the brochure on rightmove shows that M&S have a lease until 2027 there, and that the shop size is 325m2 which is pretty small.

Looks like a pretty easy and obvious move for M&S and one the Council couldn’t do much about given the short lease.

Re. Anon 1.53. M&S may not be the developer, but of course they are responsible. They’ve agreed the pre-let, allowing it to move forward, and they are now part of the developer’s PR campaign, using their special term of “rotating the store estate” when they mean large-scale closures, drastic down-sizing of major stores (eg Liverpool City Centre) and making their remaining stores inaccessible to anyone not in a car. And do you really think they will be clubbing together with Lidl for a shuttle bus?

Get on with it

Get a car

Some unbelievable and selfish comments here by people who have no idea about the real world. Don’t blame M&S but direct your anger at the landlords of the Cloisters who forced out some of the smaller, much loved businesses like The Bakehouse by demanding extortionate rents. Someone’s suggested building houses on the bypass land. What planet are they on? You can’t get a doctors or dental appointment as it is so that really would help wouldn’t it?! There’s no guarantee Sefton Council will approve this anyway because they refused the applications to extend the sports facilities at Formby FC and that would have improved the area, and a Lidl store further north up the bypass, instead of which they’ll approve residential development on land that has and always will flood!

More stupidity it’s all about the money not the actual real Formby residents they’ve already ruined it with that awful pinewoods estate

A remodel of the cloisters to better accommodate M&S would be a much better outcome for Formby. Yes, there’s no discount store in Formby. Put it on the by-pass if you have to but it could have gone near the shops at the Little Altcar end of the town before they decided to fill the last plots with housing!

Would rather M and S stayed in village.not a good move for older people and those without cars

Sorry not needed. Formby has space already for so called expanding companies that could be developed without any new build.

The loss of M&S from Formby village will be a massive blow particularly for anyone elderly who does not drive. The council should have a clear plan about what will fill that space.

If it does get built,will aldi be going on to the site?

I have no problem with new businesses being developed in the area, but not at the expense of Formby village. Not everyone drives. There would need to be a good transport system to take people to the new stores and good investment in the village itself to maintain that feeling of community. We don’t need anymore bars, barbers or hairdressers but good interesting shops that attract customers.

Tremendous news for the area which in need of updating, in consideration of the new housing schemes in the area! Marks is special in the area, as is Lidl 👍

Someone has there head well screwed on,what a brilliant plan, as this will help to increase the infrastructure for the so many young families coming to live in Formby,there is now enough New Builds here in the past 10 years.No more houses,and also giving local employment.I hope Marks will be also be baby, kids and adult clothing.

Yet more traffic and a not needed Lidl. Just more congestion in a town that is getting increasingly over built. The only benefit to Sefton M B C

They are building houses all the way up to the woods. Next they will be selling beach huts. It’s not NIMBY to see where this lot will end up. No doctors, schools, dentists but massive retail park to jam up the ‘bypass’

Great news Exactly what we need here can’t wait for this

I hope that any junction onto the bypass moves traffic significantly more efficiently than the one by Tesco.

Amazing news!!! Formby desperately needs a retail park with the ever growing population…circa 25k people living here now 🤯 more shops and more jobs! 🙌🏼

This is the start of a slippery slope in the run down of Chapel Lane in Formby if not handled properly. Hopefully, it won’t lead to the gutting of our high street as happened to Prescot 20 years ago or so (which is now only starting to recover) after a similar out of town retail development was built. Think very carefully on the implications both positive and negative for the local community, for instance what is M & S’s plan for the vacated building. Will it be left empty or will they be given the responsibility of finding a new tenant/ buyer? Sefton Planning Department need to look good and hard at this for it to work for ALL not just businesses

1/ Another access north of Home Bargains would create more delays to traffic flows.
2/ M&S can extend their lease and argue against excessive increase in rent at tribunal or arbitration.
3/ The existing M&S provides a good complementary store to existing retail offer and a very convenient location for independent older residents to pick up online goods and should not be driving/ can’t afford to.
4/ I can imagine employment elements disappearing from the scheme once retail principles have been established. Where are decent plans for the scheme and when is the residents meeting as this is kept under wraps.

Would be a great opportunity for the town and bring well needed jobs but I’m very sceptical as the aldi franchise was knocked back

the image looks wonderful….so inspiring.

Move M&S out of Formby village- NO! NO! NO!

This development needs good access by bus so everyone can use it . Sadly Marks and Spencer moving to the new development will leave another empty shop which the village does not need.

How can M&S possibly say that is in the best interest of the public to close the store on the village, it is absolute nonsense. The public of Formby need the village as it is far more accessible. We have Aldi in Birkdale and Thornton which is quite enough for cheapness and sometimes verify inferior. As for getting across th bypass it is dangerous enough without complicating it more. A bus service was promised when Tescos was opened did it materialise, NO and it will be the same this time. Formby has enough supermarket facilities and do not need green open spaces to be built on anymore.

This proposal will only lead to more vehicles using one of the three exit routes out of Formby. In particular Altcar Road which is used as a main route to the shops and businesses located the other side of the bypass. It’s already gridlocked at certain times and when it’s not gridlocked it’s impossible for residents to cross due to the speed of the many vehicles travelling on it. I’m sure both Liverpool and Southport roads will be just as bad – basically turning Formby into a car park.

Brilliant idea, but could we have an Aldi too, please?!

No more corporate businesses are needed in Formby. Independent business should be encouraged in the village, that people can walk too. No more traffic is needed in Altcar Rd or other roads. Marks and Spencer, Costa Coffee, Lidl, national trust have ruined the country with their capitalism, no thanks. No more car pollution needed in Formby, there is already enough. Accessible healthcare required in the village please. Sefton Council, wake up.

M&S is a business and needs to make commercial decisions. Rent and Business rates will impact on where they trade as well potential footfall and customer base. Like it or not most people drive to do their (big) shopping. The M&S in Formby village is nothing more than a convenience store and is not sustainable in its present location.

And if the lease is up it would probably have left its present location anyway. At least this option retains an M&S in Formby.

Unbelievable that retail parks like this are still being built, a terrible 20th century relic. Cars have ruined our towns.

I love retail parks, safer, cleaner, family friendly, quicker and more convenient than towns

You can see why some developers take advantage of the general public’s idea of what makes good place making. It’s definitely not car centric retail parks. Interesting how Manchester is attempting to get rid of its retail parks.