FELIXSTOWE'S biggest eyesore is set to be demolished next month.The grey corrugated-roofed and sided old bus station at the Ordnance roundabout will be bulldozed - removing a dilapidated building which has given the area a run-down feel.

FELIXSTOWE'S biggest eyesore is set to be demolished next month.

The grey corrugated-roofed and sided old bus station at the Ordnance roundabout will be bulldozed - removing a dilapidated building which has given the area a run-down feel.

It is to be replaced by a Lidl supermarket and the company hopes to start work later this year or early next.

This week the proposals passed their second of three hurdles when Suffolk Coastal planners approved a change of policy to allow the 1,400 sq metre food store plus 80-space car park to be built.

Now it just needs the go-ahead from secretary of state for the environment Hilary Benn, which is expected to be a formality.

Town and district councillor Doreen Savage said: “I am so pleased it has been approved - this will make a huge difference to that part of Felixstowe.

“It is a very complex issue and the final go-ahead still needs to be given.

“Lidl says they will be demolishing the bus station in October and that is a big step forward.”

Planners had not wanted to see a piecemeal development of the old bus station site, newsagents, chip shop and council depot in Langer Road and envisaged a larger development of shops and homes on the land and the shipping offices and car park next door.

Councillors though felt the site had been redundant for many years and a comprehensive development package could not be guaranteed, and Lidl would tidy up the site and help regenerate this part of Felixstowe.

Many people in the area do not have cars and there are few shops nearby. It is a long walk uphill into town to other supermarkets.

Development of the two-acre site at the junction of Langer Road and Garrison Lane is the first stage in the regeneration of the area.

Plans have been put forward to demolish the Ordnance to make way for sheltered flats, new shops are to be built at Haven Exchange and homes and a maritime park on the south seafront.

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