New Lidl store to open in Cork following positive bid from council 

Approved plans also include a new gym, beauty salon and dry cleaners 

The approved development will span more than 3,790 sq m in total and reach a maximum of four storeys in height

Local planners at the County Hall have given the green light for a new Lidl store in Cork.

The German retail giant lodged plans in October 2024 to construct a new licensed discount food store at Castlelake Avenue, Cork Road in Carrigtwohill. 

The approved development, which will span more than 3,790 sq m in total and reach a maximum of four storeys in height, would comprise a retail sales area, an off-license and a bakery, as well as public facilities, offices, a delivery area and a storage area. Ancillary units for various non-retail services are also included in the development.

Further information on the plans was sought by the council in September last year, in which Lidl revised its proposal, re-designing the building to incorporate a range of non-retail activities. These will include a hair and beauty salon, a gym, treatment rooms, saunas and ice baths, a dry cleaners, toilets and a reception area.

The plans also include a public plaza area with 96 car parking spaces. The primary entrance for both vehicles and pedestrians would be provided via a new site entrance from Castlelake Avenue, with a secondary pedestrian access route provided via the proposed public plaza at the junction of Castlelake Avenue and Cork Road.

"Acknowledging the character and range of existing commercial and retail development in the local area and in Carrigtwohill Town Centre, the revised proposal seeks to present a mixed-use development that assigns floorspaces to uses for which, it is understood, there is a likely demand," Lidl said in its submission, adding that uses such as a dry cleaners, a salon and a gym would complement the available retail and non-retail service uses already in the area. 

The plans received submissions from local residents, who raised concerns about the “large, generic building” described in the planning application which was not "substantially different" from the previous one lodged in 2024.

Despite these submissions, Cork County Council approved the plans, granting permission for the new store with the conditions of the decision yet to be published.