A planning application to extend the permitted working and delivery hours at the Aldi supermarket store in Bradley Stoke has drawn opposing views from local Councillors and the store’s customers.
The store submitted the application after South Gloucestershire Council accused it of operating in breach of two conditions attached to the original planning consent for the site.
Since the planning application was registered on 9th November, the store has collected an 842-name customer petition supporting “the planning application submitted by Aldi for extended delivery hours at this store to enable the freshest products to be available when the store opens every day of the week”.
The Journal understands that the petition was placed at the store’s checkouts between Saturday 12th November and Thursday 24th November, with sales staff inviting customers to register their support.
The completed petition was posted to SGC on Saturday 3rd December (one day after the official end date of the consultation period) and appeared on the Council’s website on Wednesday 7th December.
Members of Bradley Stoke Town Council’s Planning Committee, meeting on 23rd November, took an opposing view and registered an objection on the grounds that “the proposals will be detrimental to the residential amenity of the surrounding area”.
Two of the Bradley Stoke Town Councillors who voted against the application, Cllrs Ben Walker and Keith Cranney, also sit on SGC’s Development Control (West) Committee that is now likely to be asked to determine the case.
A resident of Mallard Close, on the opposite side of Bradley Stoke Way to the supermarket, has also objected, claiming that members of his household are frequently awoken by deliveries to the store “which take place anywhere between the hours of 2am and 6am several times a week”.
Perhaps surprisingly, there have been no objections from residents of properties in Brackendene, some of which are very close to the loading bay at the rear of the store.
Current planning conditions restrict working and delivery times to 7am – 8pm Monday to Friday and 10am – 4pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays. Furthermore, “no deliveries whatsoever” may made to the shop on Sundays or Public Holidays without the prior written consent of the Council.
The new application seeks permission for working and delivery times to be extended to 6am – 8pm on weekdays and Saturdays and 8am – 6pm on Sundays and Public Holidays. The store is also asking for the ban on Sunday deliveries to be lifted.
Planning officers have today recommended that deliveries to the store be permitted on Sundays.
They have refused permission to allow earlier deliveries Monday to Saturday because the applicant has “failed to provide enough information in respect of potential noise disruption at very early times in the morning”.