The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Aldi bid refused due to 20-minute policy
AKinross-shire Aldi has been refused due to its failure to pass the Scottish Government’s 20-minute neighbourhood test.
Officers from Perth and Kinross Council turned down the plan for a new supermarket on Auld Mart Road in Milnathort.
They considered it acceptable regarding design, layout, landscaping, transport, visual amenity and impact on neighbours.
But it breached national planning framework 4 (NPF4), which the Scottish Parliament adopted in February 2023.
It was refused under NPG4 policy 28, which requires new development to meet the principles of 20-minute neighbourhoods.
The council’s decision statement said: “The policy does not support retail proposals in out-of-centre locations, such as this one.”
Officers say policy 28 does allow for a smaller scheme of no more than 500sq m in peripheral areas such as Auld Mart Road.
The statement added: “These controls will ensure development principally serves local retail needs and is consistent with the principles of 20-minute neighbourhoods. The proposal is not therefore of a neighbourhood scale, being a much larger 1,734sq m gross store.”
The proposal was also contrary to local development plan 2, adopted in 2019, which states retail in employment areas will not be acceptable unless they are ancillary to an acceptable use on the site.
The decision will come as a blow to the hundreds of locals who supported the new Aldi. Of the 367 people who commented on the application, 259 were in support and 105 objected. There were three neutral comments.
The scheme was also backed by the chairperson of Kinross anti-poverty charity Broke Not Broken, who claimed the new store would ensure Kinross-shire residents no longer need travel to Cowdenbeath in Fife to shop at an Aldi.
Aldi said the new store would cost £5.3 million and create around 35 fulltime and part-time jobs.
The council’s decision statement added that if the decision is reviewed, it would recommend conditions on noise, servicing and delivery times and lighting.
It is not known if Aldi will appeal.
The concept of a 20-minute neighbourhood is an adaption of the 15-minute city model promoted, in July 2020, by C40 Cities, a global network of mayors focused on tackling climate change.
C40 Cities, chaired by London mayor Sadiq Khan, established the 15-minute city as a framework whereby all city residents could meet most of their needs within a short walk or bicycle ride from their homes.
Perth and Kinross Council’s local outcomes improvement plan 20222032 says 20-minute neighbourhoods are a Scottish Government priority, focusing on spatial planning and local living. The document added: “20-minute neighbourhoods is a concept which aims to ensure that the key needs of a local community can be reached within 20 minutes of non-motorised transport.”