A discount supermarket in Congleton has applied for planning permission to convert its town centre store into smaller units.
Aldi, which has a branch in Congleton on West Heath Shopping Centre, recently put its Mountbatten Way store on sale for £1.2m.
This came months after Aldi started work on a new supermarket in Biddulph.
Aldi has now applied for planning permission from Cheshire East Council for the “subdivision and modification” of the Mountbatten Way store into three units, labelled A, B and C.
Unit A is proposed to be a food and drink retail outlet. The work on it would include a “small extension” to infill a recessed area by the existing customer entrance/exit.
Unit B would be for storage or distribution, a planning class that includes warehousing and open air storage Unit A would have glazed double doors added and a loading door. A small plant room would be built at the rear.
Unit C would have glazed double doors, with an existing loading door retained.
One row of car parking spaces would be reconfigured from 14 to eight, to allow for installation of three customer entrances and one loading door. All other car parking spaces would be retained – the existing car park has 80, the proposal would have 77.
Refrigeration and air conditioning systems (including cages) would be removed.
The only comment received on the application so far was from Cheshire East Council cycling and walking champion Coun Suzie Akers Smith, who asked for the plan to include parking provision for bicycles.
She wrote: “We are trying to encourage residents to walk and cycle more and having suitable, covered and secure cycle parking is key to enable that.”
She also asked for a shower, change and locker facilities for clothes as well as secure cycle parking for staff.
“A lack of facilities is one reason why people will not cycle to work,” she said.
Said the company in its planning application: “The proposal is in keeping with the context of the existing site and introduces benefits including employment opportunities to the local community. The changes will offer a greater variety of services to the local area without introducing changes to road or site layout.
The current store was purpose-built for Aldi Stores, with planning approval granted in February 1998.
The Cheshire East Council reference number is 21/3473C; the last date for people to submit comments is 23rd July, and the council’s decision target date is Friday, 20th August.
