PLANS for a budget supermarket in a Hampshire town are likely to be approved next week – despite more than 60 objections to the scheme.

District councillors are being urged to support the multi-million-pound plan, which would see a public car park in St John’s Street, Hythe, replaced by a Lidl store employing around 40 people.

Councillors are also being recommended to approve proposals for a 36-flat retirement complex on neighbouring land.

The supermarket scheme has sparked 61 objections from people living near the site, many of whom claim the proposed development would have an “overbearing impact” on nearby homes.

Hythe and District Parish Council has also lodged a protest, claiming the loss of the car park would have an a major impact on the local economy.

It also points out that the site is surrounded by a conservation area and is next door to the Grade II-listed St John’s Church, which is also among the objectors.

But the district council’s planning committee is being recommended to approve the scheme when its meets next Wednesday.

A report to members says a study commissioned by the council in 2015 concluded that a new discount foodstore in Hythe would boost the vitality of the town centre.

It also claims that drivers who currently use the car park could find spaces elsewhere.park elsewhere

As reported in the Daily Echo, most of the controversy centres on the design of the new supermarket and its impact on the conservation area.

In a letter to the district council, Julie Nason, of Davidson Close, Hythe, describes it as a “concrete monolith” that is “completely out of keeping”.

Grace Ingram, of School Road, Hythe, adds: “It’s unimaginative, cheap-looking and totally unsympathetic to the surrounding area.”

Peter Thornett, of Main Road, Dibden, is also calling for the application to be rejected.His letter says: “The proposed building is a mono slab of mainly glass and steel and lacks any architectural merit considering it is adjacent to a conservation area. This building would be more appropriate on an industrial estate.”

But Lidl says the design of the proposed supermarket has been “significantly adapted” to suit the site.

In a separate application Churchill Retirement Living is seeking consent to build 36 flats for the elderly on the corner of St John’s Street and South Street.

The one and two-bedroom flats would replace PC Building Supplies, which is moving to larger premises at Hardley Industrial Estate.