Aldi plots next Bolton store
Plans for a 14,000 sq ft supermarket on the edge of the Paragon Business Park in Horwich have been lodged.
According to plans lodged by Avison Young, the retailer plans to part-demolish a 2,400 sq ft office annexe building, along with reconfiguring parking and transport access.
The 4.4-acre site is described as surplus land south-east of the Chorley New Road business park, which will be accessed from De Havilland Way. It is in a prominent position, to the west of the Beehive roundabout, and just to the north of the popular Middlebrook retail and leisure complex.
Aldi’s professional team includes architect The Harris Partnership, BWB, Earth Environmental, transport assessor Cameron Rose Associates, flood risk and drainage expert Integra Consulting, Sol Environmental, Bowland Tree Consultancy, and Noise Solutions.
The supermarket group has expressed that the plans do not have any implication for its store in Horwich town centre, which it considers to serve a different market.
Aldi said that it intends to deliver within 18 months, and that the receipts of it acquiring the site from the business park owner could lead to reinvestment in the Paragon site.
Typically for Aldi, the store is proposed with a sales area of slightly more than 14,000 sq ft, with a further 6,000 sq ft of warehousing, office and staff space.
The site concerned had previously been unsuccessfully marketed by Paragon’s owner. In 2015, a consent was granted to DRA for a five-storey office block, but the consent was never implemented. The site currently houses surface parking, along with hard and soft landscaping.
The outline site currently offers 214 car parking spaces, a number that would be increased by a further 32 spaces, should Bolton Council approve the plans. Of these, 145 would be linked to the store and 101 to the office park.
Aldi has this year pushed forward with plans for a site in Lancaster previously earmarked for a Booths store, but in February was denied consent by Oldham Council for a site at the Broadway Green business park, Chadderton, as members adjudged the site to be reserved for employment.
The site is close to the prominent Middlebrook retail park. Credit: planning documents
