An application to build a new Lidl supermarket on Futura Park will be on the desk of Ipswich council planners within the next few days.
It has formally been lodged with the government's Planning Portal and should be on the desks of planning officers in Ipswich by the end of the week.
The new store will occupy the final empty site on Futura Park, facing on to Nacton Road opposite the Ravenswood development.
It is almost opposite the existing small Lidl store on the Ravenswood shopping centre which is expected to close and whose staff will move over the road.
The new store will be larger and better located - the existing supermarket is one of the smallest that the German discount retailer operates, and it is difficult for people who do not live in Ravenswood to access by car.
The new store will be accessed from Futura Park which is already popular with the John Lewis and Waitrose store nearby - and new paths and improved pedestrian crossings on the Nacton Road should make it easy for pedestrians from Ravenswood to reach.
Lidl's plans to move to a larger store in the area first became public knowledge in early 2020 when the company applied to Ipswich council for a off licence to sell alcohol on what is currently vacant land.
That application has been dealt with - and there have been talks between the developers of Futura Park, Aquigen, and borough planners to try to ensure that any application met the council's requirements.
No one from Lidl could comment on the application - they said it was in the hands of the developer and council - but the company said last year it was keen to improve its offer in that part of Ipswich and was looking at ways of expanding.with the plans.
The formal application is expected to be studied by planning officers over the next few weeks and it would be expected to be discussed by the borough's planning and development committee in the early summer.
There had been hopes that the new store could be open by Christmas of this year - but delays in getting the application lodged could have made that timescale look very ambitious.
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