Lidl propose vast depot expansion in Belvedere offering 400 jobs
Lidl have submitted plans for a major expansion of their distribution depot in Belvedere offering 400 new jobs.
The company is part of the Schwartz retail group and now has over 800 stores in the UK. It first entered the UK market in 1994.
Thinking about it, Abbey Wood near Belvedere must have been one of the very first stores. I remember going around that time and being accused of shoplifting by security as I left on the very first visit. A good introduction. Spoiler – I hadn’t.
Anyway I digress, and this is another large employer attracted to Belvedere and Erith. Asda have operated a large depot for some time as do Ocado (with a vast facility) and Tesco.
One thought was that the impending Silvertown Tunnel may be a factor though it seems unlikely. Lidl plan major expansion south of the Thames and in Kent and continue to regularly submit plans for various sites such as Erith and enlarging Foots Cray.
The company recently opened in Charlton and purchased a site off Waitrose in Bromley. Major expansion is on the cards.
New bus depot
Planning documents also reveal that land to the south west is in line to become a bus garage. It states “0.8 hectares of land in the south west corner of the site shall be reserved for a bus depot, of up to 700 sq.m”.
Perhaps a replacement site for Stagecoach in Plumstead with that site relatively close to Woolwich Crossrail station and near Plumstead station? Homes are planned directly opposite at a plot named “West Thamesmead Gateway”.
Maybe Bexleyheath as that site could be sold for a large number of new homes, or Arriva in Dartford as home are built opposite that depot?
You can view Lidl’s application here.
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Belvedere is ideal for a Distribution Centre…close to the QE2 Bridge and not too far from Dover and the EU…lorries are a fact of life for distribution of food stuffs. Can only be good for the area long term
Great news for the local economy.
I think the bus depot may end up being leased to Go Ahead, as it is on the site they vacated in February 2017, 2 weeks after the original related proposal was granted planning permission. Belvedere depot closed and an alternative (temporary?) site was located at Morden Wharf. Arriva could be interested in leasing it as they already have a temporary outstation in Erith. I doubt Plumstead bus garage will close as a result of this – I thought the long term plan (very long term in the case of Peabody) was to relocate that bus garage and the fire station to premises on or close to Nathan Way.
If the powers that be had any sense, they’d put the tunnel in Erith, or Plumbstead even!
Great news for the local economy and the 400 local jobs will be very much welcomed in the distribution centre. Along with the construction jobs that will be required to build the extension of the distribution centre.
I think Lidl will continue to expand as consumers look to get more for their money in their shopping baskets each week.
Excellent news from Lidl during these difficult times, Agree the 400 new jobs will be very much welcomed.
With regard to land set aside for a bus garage it could be all three of the bus garages mentioned. Stagecoach Plumstead Bus Garage was earmarked for redevelopment years ago at the time they were saying a hotel could be built site.
Then it was mentioned housing could be built on the site of the bus garage. I remember saying at the time build more social housing on the site. However, if the bus garage does eventually close i think it could be used as depot for Crossrail possibly?
Go Ahead London Central Bexleyheath bus Garage was also rumoured some years back to be closing so new homes could be built on the site but that also did not materialise
Finally as mentioned by Murky with new homes built opposite Arriva’s Dartford Garage they may possibly decided to build a new garage in the area. They already have a small outstation in Erith as mentioned by Roy where routes 99 and some of the buses on roue 229 operate from. Arriva could then allow the Dartford bus Garage site to be sold for further housing.
I presume the new bus garage will operate some electric or hydrogen buses in time so the new garage will have to prepare for this when eventually built. It will be interesting to see the plans for this in the future and which operator will run the new garage,
Any new bus garages will just have open air parking with just a covered maintenance area/admin block. Accountants like to keep costs down.
Ryse Hydrogen has planning consent for a production facility in Kent with a wind farm to power it. The company owner bought bus builder Wrightbus out of administration. They will supply the hydrogen in trailers to reduce the infrastructure requirements. The first hydrogen double deckers are being delivered to London soon under a combined contract.
The Go Ahead garage at Waterloo is fully electric with the buses charged in the open air.
Crossrail already has a depot at Plumstead.
We know electric buses like other electric vehicles are charged in the open air Chris L nothing new there. What I meant by planning was unlike Diesel buses that can be parked anywhere in the garage.
Electric buses will have to parked at the electric charging points. So these will have to be planned for so there are enough points and parking space to charge buses. While other buses move around the gargae safely,
The reason I mentioned Waterloo is that the buses are all parked each night on a spine of charging points.
According to the proposal documents Lidl are already speaking with a bus operator about leasing the site. If I was a betting man (which I’m not!), I would say Arriva or Go-Ahead. Both operators have local pipeline or current work with conventional buses that can be moved there. There is also an upcoming tender award at the end of this year for routes 132, 160 and 180 which could be interesting. I think the Belvedere site would accommodate a fleet of 50 or so electric double deckers if the tender was awarded to a single operator for that type of vehicle. I’m not holding my breath though – this part of London doesn’t usually see newer vehicles allocated to routes. We’ll probably end up with Diesel hybrid cast-offs from another part of London.
Your not wrong Captain Calzoncillos South East London always gets a raw deal when it comes to public transport and in particular bus services.
I think the expansion of the Lidl Distribution Centre at Belvedere is brilliant news as it is the announcement of the 400 new jobs which are needed for the area.
I think both Lidl and Aldi will see further expansion of their stores in London Kent and beyond as they remain very popular stores amongst consumers.