Plans for a new Aldi supermarket in Newport are facing rejection.
The discount supermarket chain wants to open a new store on the site of the former R.J. Mason Transport Yard in Albany Street, Crindau.
Under the plans, Aldi’s existing store on Barrack Hill in the city would be closed and knocked down.
But the plans have been recommended for refusal, with concerns over the retail impact of the proposed relocation.
A Newport Council planning report says the Aldi in Barrack Hill is the only significant food store in the Malpas Road district centre.
An assessment of the proposal’s retail impact estimates closing the store would result in the loss of £17.8m of expenditure within the district centre.
It is thought the store will be replaced by another retailer with a reduced turnover compared to Aldi, “fundamentally weakening” the wider function of the retail centre.
Rival supermarket Sainsbury’s, which has a store on Albany Street close to the proposed new store’s location, has also ‘strongly’ objected.
It is estimated it would suffer a 10.7 per cent loss in turnover as a result of the move.
In its objection, the supermarket says the plans would “establish a dangerous precedent and is a clear threat to the council’s retail strategy.”
Planning policy does not support closing a store located in a district centre to allow relocation to an out-of-centre location, Sainsbury’s points out.
But Aldi says the larger store will help generate investment in the Crindau area and provide 15 more jobs than at the current one.
It estimates the turnover at the new, larger store would also be £5.68 million more.
A wider range and choice of goods would be stocked, improving “customer experience”, it is said.
A planning report says there is “no robust evidence” the economic gains will outweigh the loss of the existing site though.
Planners have raised concern over the accessibility of the proposed site by walking or public transport, particularly in comparison to the current Aldi location which is considered “more sustainable.”
Natural Resources Wales have also objected due to the proposed site being within a floodplain.
The proposed access to the site – from the Sainsbury’s roundabout for customers and from Albany Street for deliveries – is also judged to be ‘unsafe’.
“The benefits of the scheme are clearly outweighed by the identified harms,” planners have concluded.
Newport council’s planning committee will consider the plans at a meeting on Wednesday.
