Proposed Welshpool Aldi gets blessing of council

That is the view of members of Welshpool Town Council's planning committee, who have backed plans for a new Aldi store that could bring up to 40 jobs to the town.

The proposed store will be located in Mill Lane, next to the Smithfield Bell pub, if planning permission is granted by Powys County Council.

The views of town councillors will be submitted to the county council to be discussed before a decision is made.

Robert Robinson, clerk of Welshpool Town Council, said: "The committee considered the effect the scheme might have on the town centre, and the committee was of the view that the scheme brought more to the town than it might lose.

"It was also considered what other retail space is available in the town centre – the old Co-op building is now occupied by Poundland, and the two units on the Tesco site, have both been taken.

"There is no other significant space left for retail within the town centre so the committee felt that there was no reason not to support the application on this basis."

Mr Robinson said members also considered concerns from some of the supermarkets with the arrival of a discount store.

"The effect of losing one of the other supermarkets was considered and it was felt that this was not likely," he said.

He said the committee believed the introduction of an Aldi would not have a negative impact on the town's other supermarkets.

Earlier this year Aldi held a public exhibition in the town for residents to meet the project team, find out more about the proposal, and provide their feedback on the preliminary plans.

Members of the public also attended Wednesday's meeting of the planning committee, and Mr Robinson said there was "general support" from the public for the development of the site.

But a number of issues were raised including light pollution from later in the evenings when the store is in use, as well as considering deliveries being allowed from 6am to 11pm "excessive".

The proposed store would also include 90 customer car parking spaces on site, which members of the public considered "adequate".

Mr Robinson confirmed that the town council backed the firm's application subject to a section 106 agreement. That would include an amount to allow the town council to carry out a scheme of theming the area from the site to the main shopping street in the town – Broad Street – including some lighting to the nearby canal and two CCTV cameras around the site linked to the town system.