Council objects to Aldi car park
Issues include lack of sustainability and effect on traffic
NEWBURY town councillors have objected to plans to extend the Aldi car park in London Road by demolishing the neighbouring York House.
The German retailer has applied to demolish the house, currently office space, in order to expand its car park from 64 spaces to 85.
Access to York House from London Road would be removed and a single-storey extension would be added to the front of the store to increase the retail area from 960 sq m to 1,235 sq m.
However, town councillors were unimpressed with the plan, criticising it for a lack of sustainability, the effect it would have on traffic and the effect the demolition would have on local residents.
Jo Day (Lib Dem, Speenhamland) said: “At first glance it seemed a good idea but the application is much bigger than it first seems.
“The actual premises will be extended.
“I don’t feel very strongly against it, but there are lots of conditions which have to be met.
“I’m a little bit concerned about the disruption for the neighbours caused by the demolition and the construction.”
Aldi said the proposed extension was unlikely to increase customer numbers at the store as “a large majority of the local population are already aware of Aldi’s business model, the London Road store and its product offer”.
However, Phil Barnett (Lib Dem, Clay Hill) queried why it needed more parking spaces if it wasn’t going to increase customer numbers.
Green councillor Steve Masters (Speenhamland) called for greater sustainable initiatives in the scheme.
He said: “There’s only two paragraphs on sustainability in the documents.
“They’re going to lose five trees and there’s no attempt at replanting.
“They could’ve put solar panels on there, and there’s no mention of encouraging people to come from the local area by bicycle.
“They’re taking a bit of a liability – there’s no attempt to live up to the expectations of this council and this council’s plans to move forward with sustainability.”
The objection wasn’t unanimous, however. Gary Norman (Lib Dem, Wash Common) expressed concern that refusing the store’s application could cause it to move elsewhere.
He said: “There’s a supermarket already there and the car park clearly doesn’t satisfy the requirement for what they have there at the moment.
“I rather think if they can’t do this they’ll close the shop and go elsewhere.
“I’m worried if this gets turned down they’ll build a bigger site on a green field a little out of town.”
The application will now go to West Berkshire Council for consideration.
To view the plans, head to the council’s planning portal and enter the reference 21/01716/FUL.
At first glance it seemed a good idea but the application is much bigger than it first seems