Rejected Aldi plans to be debated again

Plans for a new Aldi store in Oldham which were previously turned down by councillors against the advice of council officers, will be debated again.

An application to build a new foodstore, along with car parking, and an internal road, as well as a ‘flexible use’ commercial unit is back before the planning committee next week.

The supermarket had previously applied to the council to build a new hub at land at Broadway Green Business Park in Chadderton, but it was rejected earlier this year after councillors said they wanted to hold out for ‘high quality’ jobs on the site.

The store would have been 1,315 sqm in size, with an additional warehouse, staff and office facilities, and was proposed to be built off the new Lydia Becker Way road.

Currently the site is surrounded by undeveloped land which is proposed for industrial units, and a new residential development.

There was also a proposed ‘flexible use’ commercial unit which would have been for the sale of food ‘mostly’ on the site, either as a coffee shop, bakery or ‘restaurant type’ facility.

A car park with 124 spaces, including eight accessible bays and electric vehicle charging spaces would also be created.

There have been nine letters of objection, compared to one letter of support.

Councillors in Chadderton Central ward have also objected to the resubmitted plans.

According to the planning report the applicant has provided evidence from an ‘extensive marketing exercise’ that there is ‘no real prospect’ of the site being used for the uses it has planning permission for, which are industrial, offices, and storage and distribution.

Recommending it be approved, planning officer Stephen Gill states there are some ‘clear benefits’ to the new scheme, including ‘enhancing consumer choices in Chadderton’.

“The wider site has planning permission for 500 dwellings and a substantial amount of employment floor space, and the nearest foodstores are Lidl on Jardine Way and Asda in Chadderton, both approximately one mile away,” he adds.

“The proposed foodstore will not only provide for weekly food shops but also convenience shopping throughout the week.

“Based on the evidence submitted, the development appears to have no realistic prospect of coming forward for the uses it has planning permission for, and this in conjunction with the benefits should be given significant weight in favour of the proposed development.”

The report states it will create between 40 and 50 full and part-time jobs and the commercial unit will also create an, as yet, unspecified number of new roles.

It will go before the planning committee on Wednesday (October 12).

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