Aldi has formally abandoned controversial plans to build a new store on a former cricket pitch in Huyton.
The budget supermarket chain formally withdrew its application to knock down the old Huyton Cricket Club pavilion and replace it with a new store and a block of flats on Monday (December 21).
The withdrawal follows a successful campaign by local opposition to get the 19th-century pavilion listed by Historic England, preventing it from being demolished.
Campaign group Save Huyton Cricket Club said in a statement: “This is tremendous news and a big victory for the many people who supported our efforts to see the historic club saved from yet another identikit development.”
Aldi’s plans, announced in the summer, had been supported by Huyton Cricket Club chairman Peter White, who said the ground was beyond saving and the supermarket would bring 40 jobs to the area.
Aldi had also promised £800,000 to improve junior football facilities at Jubilee Park in Roby.
But the plans provoked an outcry from neighbours who wanted the club, which is privately owned, kept as a sports facility and said the Jubilee Park proposals would not benefit Huyton residents.
Although there has been no cricket played at the Huyton Lane ground for almost a decade, the ground was used by junior football teams until 2018 when drainage issues meant the pitch was no longer suitable without significant investment.
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With the threat of demolition gone, Save Huyton Cricket Club said it would develop plans to secure that investment and make the club suitable for sport again alongside not-for-profit organisation Dream Heritage.
The campaign’s statement said: “Now we will get on with the work of trying to restore the club and put it back into use as something beneficial to the whole community. We are already working with Dream Heritage on this and hope to have more to say in the New Year.
“In the meantime, our simple message is ‘thank you’.”
A spokesperson for Aldi said: “We have suspended our Huyton Lane application for the time being as we evaluate our options over the winter break.”
“Aldi is still committed to providing fresh food and award-winning products to communities in Knowsley, and we look forward to progressing this in 2021.”
