Aldi's new Horwich store plans being 'refined 'to fit with Levelling Up bid

The Bolton News revealed that the giant discount supermarket chaun had put forward plans to open a huge store in Horwich - at a site at the junction of De Havilland Way and Chorley New Road, near the Beehive roundabout.

That junction is now at the centre of multi-million pound Levelling- Up bid to improve congestion there.

Now Aldi is refining its plans to fit in with the 'bid' with the application being put on hold for now.

De Havilland Way traffic chaos

As per the original plans, the 1,881-metre square site would be built on the Paragon Business Park on Chorley New Road.

The original plans faced a number of oppositions, most prominently a recomendation by Horwich Town Council back in April that the plans be refused due to concerns over the traffic issues it would cause.

The plans for the store would place it right on the already busy Beehive Roundabout.

Cllr John Walsh, chairman of Bolton Council's planning committee, has told The Bolton News that Aldi's most recent position is that it is 'recalculating' the figures so that when plans are brought before the committee it will fit with the Levelling- Up bid for De Havilland Way.

De Havilland Way improvement plans will 'benefit al

He said: "The Aldi position is that they are rechecking their figures to make sure that they fit in with the De Havilland Way Levelling Up bid.

"When they have done their recalculations, they will submit it to the authority for planning application to be considered.

"It’s currently on hold, it hasn’t been withdrawn."

Traffic chaos on De Havilland Way, Horwich.

The most recent issues were raised by Bolton Council’s Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA).

In June, the LLFA committee published their recommendations, saying: “The application does not contain the requisite information to demonstrate that surface water generated by the development will be managed appropriately and will not increase flood risk in the locale/area.

Aldi announces plans for huge new store in Horwich

“Due to the lack of certain information, the LLFA would recommend that from a flood risk perspective the application be refused until such time as the information is made available and accepted as appropriate for the scale of the proposed development.     

“The Flood Risk Assessment does not mention previous flooding at this location, the most recent of which in May 2021 resulted in very significant overland flows on to adjacent highways and extensive flood damage to offices at Paragon Business Park and adjoining businesses.”

Leader of the Horwich and Blackrod Independents Cllr David Grant, who also sits on Horwich Town Council, said in April that they were not opposed to the Aldi store itself, but they did have considerable safety concerns.

He added: “The decision was unanimous because we were concerned it is a very dangerous junction.

Huge new Aldi 'recommended for refusal' over traffic fears

“If you’ve got traffic at rush hour and you’ve got traffic coming out of the supermarket then we believe there could be the danger of collisions there.”

There have also been ecological issues raised, with the current site being a potential nesting ground for a variety of species of bird, as well as endangered hedgehogs.

An Aldi spokesperson said: “We’re pleased that the plans to open our Chorley New Road, Horwich store are underway and we are grateful for the local support. 

“We are working closely with Bolton Council and the highways team to refine our plans and minimise impact on the local community, and we hope to bring our application to Planning Committee in the coming months.

"Once open, the store will create new jobs and help local people shop and save closer to home and we will keep the community updated on any further developments.”

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