BUDGET supermarket chain Aldi has been given planning permission for a new store just along the canal from where the upmarket Waitrose and a hotel will be based.
The scheme will create an Aldi food store and Home Bargains outlet off Tarvin Road, Boughton, by subdividing the former Focus DIY unit which closed after the chain collapsed in 2011.
Joanna Gabrilatsou, on behalf of the applicants, told Cheshire West and Chester Council’s strategic planning committee Aldi would create up to 30 jobs with a further 40-50 at Home Bargains.
She said the east of Chester was not well served in terms of supermarket provision, being limited to Sainsbury’s.
Ms Gabrilatsou said Aldi offered good quality products at low prices. Aldi had been named Which’s Best Supermarket for the second year in a row ahead of Waitrose and Sainsbury’s.
Ward councillor David Robinson, who welcomed the Aldi scheme, said: “I get lots of phone calls from people saying ‘Please can we have this application through as soon as possible’. There’s a lot of support in the community for it.”
He raised concerns about the impact on local shops and on air quality given Boughton is one of only two areas in the borough already being monitored.
Committee member Cllr Mark Williams said: “It’s bringing employment into an area and I’m fully in support of it.”
Aldi applied for a change of use from a DIY store to food and non-food retail. The 168-space car park will be reconfigured but no spaces will be lost under the plans, with 76 designated to Aldi. The scheme was supported unanimously.
