A PUBLIC meeting is to take place next month to discuss the £9m proposals to build a Lidl supermarket, 10-unit retail parade and 26 flats in Alexandria town centre.

Last week The Reporter told how supermarket giants Lidl had teamed up with construction and manufacturing company CCG (Scotland) Ltd and presented West Dunbartonshire Council with a pre-application notice (PAN) of the proposals.

News of the plan was warmly welcomed by politicians and business leaders with some describing it as "good news for Alexandria."

Plans include a Lidl supermarket, earmarked for Bank Street, while the 26 apartment flatted development and parade of 10 retail units would be sited at Mitchell Way.

The flats would be available for social rent.

Early indications suggest that 40 new jobs could be created for the supermarket- along with additional ones during the construction phase.

Work on the new store, if approved, could start in Spring 2018.

The proposed new Lidl store consists of a 2,000m² store on a 10,693m² site and boast an in-store bakery, customer toilets and parking for both cars and bicycles.

Now the public will get a chance to voice their opinions over the regeneration plans with a public meeting scheduled to take place in Alexandria Community Centre, Main Street, Alexandria, on Wednesday, June 28 between 3pm and 7pm.

Gordon Rafferty, Lidl UK’s head of property for Scotland, said: "The planned store in Alexandria will add to Lidl’s existing store portfolio of 650."

The proposed store in Alexandria is one of two new ones that Lidl hope to introduce to West Dunbartonshire in an investment totalling £15.

In March, The Reporter told how plans to build a new £6m Lidl store in Dumbarton – with the potential of creating as many as 100 new jobs – were shelved.

Members of West Dunbartonshire Council’s planning committee were asked to consider refusing permission for the new store in Castle Street – by their own planning and building standards division.

But, in a partial climbdown, the committee instead voted in favour of continuing the matter until a later date.

As a result Lidl bosses were forced to go back to the drawing board, literally, to come up with a new design.

Five previous designs were mooted but all five were deemed “unsuitable” by council officers.

The Lidl application relates to the eastern half of the old distillery land.

They wanted a 6,000m² development spread over four units.

Two detached units would be located at the west, with the other two units located in a single building at the east of the site.

The centre of the site, at the head of the tidal basin, would be used for car parking.

The largest unit would comprise a Lidl foodstore of 2,477m² but the occupiers of the other three units are not known yet – although they are expected to be non-food retailers.

This is where the extra jobs could come from, on top of the 41 Lidl posts.

However, some of the concerns included the impact a Lidl development would have on WDC’s own walkway project, which will link the Castle to the town centre.

There was also concerns over potential “noise issues” from the service yard where trucks would deliver their goods.

Lidl are expected to come with a new design at a future date.