Who am I? 

I'm Kevin, a business owner employing local people, and I am taking personal court action on behalf of a group of businesses against our local council for a potential unlawful planning approval that was made on the 13th Dec 2017 for the German firm Lidl's re-development in Fareham, Hampshire. 

Lidl's are evicting & closing successful Manufacturing & Engineering Firms in land grabs across the UK in their aggressive expansion war on established large grocers.

1. Lidl's evicting & closing UK Blue Chip companies.
2. Lidl's are damaging village & town centres resulting in closure of UK independent retailers.
3. Huge loss to the UK GVA (Goods Economy) but great gain to the German GVA.
4. Council's are in fear of expensive legal action from Lidl's if planning is refused.
5. No social responsibilities from German firm Lidl's to UK communities & businesses in aggressive land grab expansion.
6. Lidl's forcing UK skilled workers out of work to become dependent at great cost to the UK state, only to be replaced with minimum retail jobs

I can't take on a massive corporation like Lidl on my own. I need your support to help continue legal action against this development that is having a hugely damaging impact on businesses and the local community. Please contribute whatever you can and most importantly share this page on Facebook and Twitter to help protect your own community and jobs.

Why is the proposal such a problem? 

The approval grants the demolition of 14 viable business units. Eviction of 13 UK firms and potential loss of over 50 highly skilled UK jobs in engineering and manufacturing who export all around the world, flying the flag for the UK and supplying vital parts for the defence and space industry. This also affects the firms that rely on the business from these affected firms. The damage is far reaching. This is not a one off.

These firms are vital to the UK economy, they are being sacrificed for the creation of only one additional Lidl full time retail job, as quoted on Lidl's planning application.

No suitable sites for the businesses to relocate to.

No offer of assistance from Lidl's received by the businesses.

I hope this action will be a one-off and Lidl's reconsider their current strategy of putting council's under extreme pressure in other applications to grant planning that have a detrimental effect on UK jobs and communities.

This isn't only about Fareham

UK firms,  jobs and independent retailers are becoming collateral damage in Lidl's aggressive expansion policy across the UK.

UK council's are in fear of expensive legal action from Lidl's if they reject their planning applications, which takes limited council resources away from vital social support services such as child protection and disability support.

Below is a shocking extract from a newspaper story dated 13th March 2018 from 'The Echo' on Lidl's planning application meeting.

'Councillor Nigel Hecks abstained and raised fears of a "costly" appeal battle with Lidl if the committee rejected plans'. Why does the UK Government condone this intimidation by a German firm on UK council's?

Another Lidl expose newspaper story on the damage to UK independent retailers. 'The News' dated 28th Feb 2018 on a newly opened Lidl development outside Portchester village centre. Family Butchers Twells now up for sale due to reduced footfall, " Every businesses in the precinct is feeling the pinch and Lidl just does not care'.

How much are we raising and why? 

We need to raise £30,000 to continue this legal action and make sure our costs are covered. This is how Lidl always win - threatening the little people with huge costs. With your help we can raise an initial amount of £5k to launch initial legal proceedings but then we need to reach our stretch target of £30k.

With your help, we can save all the viable businesses on the estate and give inspiration to other affected business, village centres and councils throughout the UK to make a stand where these applications are potentially unlawful and damaging to our communities.