Deferred: Decision on Aldi in Stroud pushed back while councillors seek assurances over traffic, local businesses and rival application

All nine councillors on Stroud District Council’s Development Control Committee voted to push back the decision until they had more information.

At the meeting on Tuesday night, councillors said they needed important assurances over traffic, local businesses and a last minute rival application.

The first issue was about the effect the development at Bath Road Trading Estate would have on other businesses on site, especially manufacturing company SMP Sheet Metal.

Two weeks ago the company said it would be driven out of its warehouse if plans for the budget supermarket were approved, and that it was struggling to find an alternative site to relocate to.

Councillors said they wanted assurances the company would receive support if it was indeed forced out and if jobs would be lost.

The landlord of the site has previously said they would do “all we can” to help SMP find a new base in the area – but not specified how.

However, with £40,000 moving costs, a loss of profit from the relocation and a lack of available sites in the district, the company says it has been left in limbo.

During the meeting, a representative of SMP gave a passionate plea to councillors.

Lesley Tozer, partner of the company’s founder, asked: “What about the local businesses that have been on site for years?

“SMP have been told we have to find somewhere to relocate to by next march. It’s not that easy to move and we have nowhere to go. What are we supposed to do?”

After the meeting she told the SNJ: “I’m glad the decision has been deferred. But we’re still in limbo.

“A big company like Aldi doesn’t care who they stamp on. To them we’re just a little business who is in their way.

“We’ve now been given until December to move. But they are asking too much.

"It will take up to three months to move all the heavy machinery and we can’t find any employment sites in Stroud. All our employees are local people.

“Who is going to stand up for the little guy here? We could do some with help.”

Cllr John Marjoram (Green) said: “The bottom line is that some people will be forced away and other will lose their jobs.

“We need to know the number of people on the trading estate that will be affected if this goes ahead.

“Yes the Aldi development would create 50 jobs – but we don’t know how many we’d lose on the other hand. We want to keep high skilled jobs in this district.”

Cllr Dave Mossman (Con) added: “We need to have a realistic idea of how many jobs we would lose at the site if it went ahead.”

Cllr Dorcas Binns (Con) said she wanted to know how many of the new jobs at Aldi would be on a zero hour’s contract.

The second issue focused on the dramatic planning application for a rival store 100 yards away from Aldi that was submitted just weeks ago.

This 11th hour intervention from Hunter Page Planning would include room for up to 50 houses and a “Starbucks or Costa-type” coffee drive through.

Cllr Hayden Jones (Con) said: “We can’t deny there is a question mark because of this other application.

“Can I suggest we defer this decision until we have more information?”

The third issue centred on traffic and access problems off an already busy Bath Road.

While additional highways surveys have been carried out and plans for a pedestrian crossing have been discussed, Gloucestershire County Council’s Highways has yet to make its final comments.

Cllr Binns said: “There is a big issue over traffic here. We need more information.”

At the start of the meeting Paul Gibson, Rodborough Parish councillor, had also asked the committee to defer the decision again so that the rival outline application at the Daniels Estate could be properly considered.

“We ask the council to defer. We should wait until we see the details of the Daniels application so we can do the best for our parishioners,” he said.

A spokesman from Hunter Page planning, the developer behind the application at the Daniels Estate, said: “This is a critical application for the district.

He said the Aldi development contradicted with the council’s own Local Plan, and added they would look to deliver the new supermarket in the next 18 months.

Earlier this week the developer said it hoped the Aldi development was refused.

The deferral will come as a boost to its chances of undermining the German giant’s plans.