New Aldi plan in Amersham deferred

Buckinghamshire councillors have postponed making a decision on whether to give Aldi planning permission to build a new store in Amersham.

The German budget food chain will now revise its plans to demolish the old Jaguar showroom at 44 London Road West and replace it with a new supermarket over two storeys.

Councillors discussed Aldi’s application for nearly two hours during a meeting of the planning committee on Tuesday night, before voting to defer the application to allow further time for planning officers and Aldi’s representatives to negotiate further over the planned scheme.

Elements of the plans which may now be revised include site deliveries, the external appearance of the building, and a right-hand turning lane into the site.

Planning officers have recommended that the council’s planning director grant permission for Aldi’s new store, subject to conditions and the completion of legal agreements.

The new supermarket would include a 1195m2 shop-floor located at ground level with warehouse space, and staff accommodation above.

A total of 101 customer parking spaces are to be provided, including for disabled users, parents with children and electric vehicle charging points, as well as cycle storage.

Access to the site is planned to remain as it is currently, but with the western access road to be removed.

The planned opening hours for the new store would be 8am to 10pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 5pm on Sundays.

Aldi’s plans also state that waste collections and deliveries to and from the site must take place between 7am and 11pm Monday to Saturday and from 9am to 6pm on Sundays.

More than 1,500 letters of support for the new Aldi store have been received, with only a couple dozen objections, according to the council.

Some objectors to the plans have questioned the need for another supermarket in the area, given the nearby Tesco superstore in Old Amersham and the existing Little Waitrose and M&S Simply Food in the town centre.

Others have criticised the parking plans for the new store and the design of the site, especially given that it will be located opposite listed buildings, the Chequers pub and Ambers of Amersham.

One objector, Michael Russell, told the planning meeting: “This scheme is bland, functional, poor quality ‘anywhere’ architecture designed from the inside out.

“It fails to make a positive contribution to the local character or distinctiveness. It is set within a sea of unbroken hardstanding.”

However, John Catton, the vice-chair of the Amersham Society, a conservation and heritage group with 350 members, disagrees, arguing that Amersham needs a new budget supermarket.

He said: “There is no way the size of the store that Aldi is proposing to build will replace Tesco’s.”

Mr Catton said the one proviso the society had was that Aldi’s proposed ‘blocky’ building be designed to be more sympathetic to the area.

He noted that the new store would be opposite two listed buildings, adding: “The building must be more architecturally sensitive to the area.”

Mr Catton continued: “We do support the planning application but ask the planning authority to make this proviso a condition of its approval.”

Aldi’s agent Dan Templeton told the meeting that officers had determined that the new store would not impact local retail centres.

He also said: “I appreciate that the design might not be to everybody’s taste, but officers have determined that the design is acceptable in this context.”

Mr Templeton added that the ‘overwhelming’ majority of local people who have shared their views on the new Aldi support the application.

The agent told the meeting that his client could look at the elevations of the planned store and consider introducing more brickwork into the design.

Highways officer Lucy Malloy told the meeting that the Buckinghamshire county-wide parking guidance states that parking spaces should measure 2.8m by 5m.

Aldi’s planned spaces are 30cm too narrow, only measuring 2.5m by 5m, according to Ms Malloy, who explained that this was considered acceptable due to parking requirements being updated around the time the planning application was made.

Commenting on this, Cllr Stuart Wilson told the meeting: “Aldi is famous for the number of Mercedes and BMWs that turn up to shop there from savvy shoppers.”

His colleague Cllr Isobel Darby added that she was ‘really concerned’ about the number and size of the parking spaces planned for the new store.

She told the committee: “We are saying we have accepted narrower parking spaces than our own council’s parking guidance for retail.”

The councillor said the large cars of Amersham and local preferences for driving rather than walking meant that the planned parking provision at the store would be inadequate.

Cllr Mike Stannard also said he supported Aldi’s plans, which would be ‘good for Amersham’, but said the design of the building was ‘absolutely ugly’.