SUMMERFIELDS residents are preparing to battle against a supermarket giant after it took ownership of a nearby building currently used as a gym.

Discount retailer Lidl has bought the freehold for the site used by Energie Fitness, and wants to use the land to build a new supermarket.

The German firm already has a well-established store 300ft away, but a planning application is expected to be made to Cheshire East Council ‘within days’ of the freehold sale being finalised.

Jan Spaticchia, chairman and chief executive of the Energie group, told the Guardian: “We have made it clear that we don’t want to see the gym knocked down, but it is out of our hands.

“Once Lidl has the freehold it is effectively our landlord, and they have made their intention clear to use a ‘break clause’ in our lease and put in a planning application within days.

“We expect that no planning decision would be made until October, and if the application is rejected it will mean that Lidl is our landlord and nothing has really changed for our members.

“This is a sad process for our franchisees, their staff, business partners within the club and all the members to deal with. We are doing all we can to support them at this time.

“But nothing is certain until the planning process is complete, and the gym will continue to run as normal.”

Neighbours at Summerfields Village Mews have already begun gathering support to protest against any planning application from Lidl.

They believe the larger supermarket would lead to more noise, traffic problems and a loss of privacy.

One resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “This could be the biggest Lidl in the north west and neighbours would have to put up with everything that goes with that.

“But we will fight against it – we want to make Lidl know that we are not happy with this.

“If the site has to be developed then an option could be affordable housing, which is sadly lacking in this area.”

A spokesman at Lidl told the Guardian: “Wilmslow is an important town for Lidl and our store is very popular amongst the local community.

“We’ll be sure to update you directly, should there be any changes to our retail offering in the area.”‎