THE start of construction on a new budget supermarket in Halstead has moved one step closer.

Work on the new Lidl site, on the former EMD factory site in King’s Road, is set to start this month with a view to opening next autumn.

The supermarket chain bought the former EMD factory site, in April 2015.

Original planning permission to demolish the factory and rebuild a supermarket was granted in November 2012.

However, 41 conditions were placed on the permission that Lidl must now comply with before it can build the supermarket.

The initial planning decision notice stated that no development shall take place until a detailed surface water drainage scheme for the site was submitted and approved by the council.

And an agreement has now been reached between Lidl and the Essex County Council Strategic Water Management team.

This clears the way for construction to start imminently, although Braintree Council must approve the plans first.

The correspondence from Stroud Associates states: “Sustainable drainage in traditional form using full SUDS proposals has not been achievable because of the high ground water level.

“However there has been the opportunity in raising the levels at the site to create permeable storage beneath the block paving system which is the primary cleansing source in the SUDS.

“There has been a question about whether the block paving will perform and a localised section has been produced showing the makeup of the drainage, the lowest block paving level and the highest ground water level.

“This section shows that the storage capacity and the stones beneath the porous pavement will be satisfactory.”

The initial planning notice also stated that no works shall begin until an agreement is found over who is responsible for the different elements of the surface water drainage system, and the maintenance of such system.