PLANS have been unveiled for a new multi-million pound Lidl foodstore in Keighley town centre.

The supermarket, on the old Hattersleys Mill site off Bridge Street, will create an estimated 30 new jobs.

The 17,500 sq ft store is being proposed for the long-derelict site, which is overlooked by Keighley Shared Church.

Members of the public are being invited to give their views on the proposals at a consultation event on Tuesday (November 11), between 3pm and 7pm at Keighley Civic Centre in North Street.

Representatives from Lidl and planning consultants Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners (NLP) – who are handling the consultation and planning process - will be available to answer questions.

Lidl’s plans include 68 shopper car parking spaces, a new access road and landscaping.

Chris Darley, Planning Director at NLP, said: “Lidl has been looking for an opportunity for opening a store in Keighley for quite some time.

“The proposed development would provide a spacious and attractive shopping environment, enhancing consumer choice, and the range and choice of stores available to local residents.

“It will also regenerate a derelict, brownfield site and create approximately 30 jobs in-store, together with construction employment.

“The proposed store has been carefully designed to help it fit into and complement its surroundings.

“It is proposed that the store will be partly built from stone and has been designed to ensure that views of Keighley Shared Church from Bridge Street are retained.”

The 68 parking spaces include proposals for two disabled and two parent and child spaces. Access to the store for pedestrians, customer vehicles and deliveries would be taken via a new access to be created at the west of the site onto Beck Street.

Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners (NLP) is an independent planning, economics and urban design consultancy, with offices in Cardiff, Leeds, London, Manchester and Newcastle.

It was set up in 1962 by highly-decorated town planner Professor Nathaniel Lichfield and is owned by its staff through an employee benefit trust. It has annual revenues of £13 million and employs around 200 people across its nationwide offices.

NLP is currently RTPI Planning Consultancy of the Year and is one of the largest independent planning consultancies in the UK.

It offers a broad range of planning services including economics, heritage, sustainability, and urban design and sunlight and daylight.

Its clients include local authorities and government bodies, as well as developers, landowners and operators in the housing, retail, leisure, commercial, and infrastructure sectors.