A NEW Lidl supermarket could be coming to Chippenham at the Middlefields site at the top of Hungerdown Lane.

The land, which is being sold off by the Wiltshire Council, was to be released solely for housing, despite a potential loss in capital receipts, but this was changed to “unrestricted re-marketing” of the site.

The change was put forward by Coun Toby Sturgis at last week’s meeting of the Capital Asset Committee and could open the door for a new supermarket on the site.

It is understood a representative of Lidl was at the meeting.

The committee also agreed to sell 0.6 hectares of the 2.36 hectare site to the Order of St John’s Trust for a new care home and will re-market the remainder of the land.

Independent councillor Chris Caswill said: “There was an opportunity that did not involve building houses on greenfield and the council has walked away from it.

“There’s a further downside after that, the last thing the town centre needs is another supermarket which would take people away from the High Street. I think it’s a very bad decision.”

But Coun Nina Phillips believes a mixture of housing and a small supermarket would benefit her division.

She said: “That part of Chippenham lacks a resource, especially for people who are lacking in mobility.

“I am not suggesting the shop would overtake the housing, there would be a care home and market housing. There has to be a capital receipt, the council have got to make some money somewhere along the line.”

Wiltshire Council received a number of bids for the 2.36 hectare site back in November 2014 but conditions attached to some of the highest scoring bids made it difficult to evaluate them.

A council spokesman said: “The Middlefields site has been vacant for some time and we have always wanted to progress the sale in a timely manner so its future can be resolved as quickly as possible.

"After representations and discussion at the meeting it was decided to market the site as soon as possible on an unrestricted basis and welcome bids from all interested parties.

"We are unable to comment on any individual representations at this stage, however all bids or proposals will be looked at on their individual merits during the evaluation process.”

Part of the site has already been approved to be sold by the committee to the Order of St John’s Trust to enable them to replace the Seymour House care home in Monkton Park. The building is currently leased from the council and, when replaced, could generate further capital income.