Brighton And Hove Aldi Plan Approved

Supermarket chain Aldi has been granted planning permission to build a fourth branch in Brighton and Hove.

Approval was granted by Brighton and Hove City Council’s Planning Committee subject to conditions being agreed within three months.

Forty-three people objected to the proposal, for a site at the top of King George VI Avenue, known locally as Snaky Hill, while 22 people wrote letters or emails in support.

The application for a building covering 1,880 square metres (sqm) would include 1,315 sqm of retail space and 107 parking spaces.

At Hove Town Hall yesterday (Wednesday 4 September), councillors asked why no extra exit was planned for the roundabout at the junction with the A27 and Dyke Road Avenue.

They were told that National Highways was “not open” to another exit on the roundabout.

Labour councillor Tobias Sheard said that the new supermarket would serve people moving into Toads Hole Valley where the owner has planning permission for 1,000 new homes.

Councillor Sheard said:

“Having somewhere to feed people near by is a really good idea and it’s one of the prerequisites you need for trying to encourage people to move in to begin with.

“On top of that, with the 21 running up there, for everyone who lives to the west of Dyke Road and around Hove Park, you’re giving them the only supermarket they can access by bus.”

Labour councillor Maureen Winder said that people would need supermarkets if they were going to move to an area.

Cllr Winder said:

“You’re not going to get the development and the housing without people feeling they have a supermarket locally and they can access those kind of services.

“There are a lot of areas in the city which are without amenity and people have had to cope with that so it’s a really good proposal to get this under way now and that will encourage the development of better housing in the area.”

Conservative councillor Carol Theobald said that the applicant did not know the area because they seemed unaware of the dense traffic in the morning and late afternoon in Dyke Road Avenue. She voted against the scheme.

Councillor Theobald said:

“The traffic is horrendous just going on to that roundabout and this will make it even worse.

"I am worried about the traffic going into the site because I think that will be terrible as well.”

Green Cllr Sue Shanks also voted against the scheme, sharing her concerns about the environmental impact and the council’s “net zero” ambitions.

Councillor Shanks said:

“That’s a nice area just opposite Three Cornered Copse. There’s a path that goes through that. If it’s lit, it will ruin that whole area. It’s a big area for people going for country walks.

“I don’t believe people will go by bus. Supermarkets are by their nature places that people travel to in their car, load them up and drive home again.

"Brighton and Hove Independent councillor Bridget Fishleigh also voted against the plans."

Aldi is required to agree terms with the council.

They include a proposed £150,000 contribution towards maintaining the half-hour frequency of the 21 bus, funding the evening service and the cost of improving bus stops.

The company is also being asked to spend £30,000 on upgrading the neighbouring A27 Brighton bypass junction, sometimes referred to as the Devil’s Dyke interchange.