Tim Hortons joins the Liverpool party as Aldi wins consent

The supermarket group’s plans for a 20,000 sq ft Speke store were unanimously approved, with the Canadian coffee brand now lined up for the mixed-use scheme.

Liverpool City Council’s planning committee also approved 33 apartments for over-55s in Woolton.

Aldi’s project felt the most significant at the August committee, though. The former tea factory site at the junction of Speke Hall Road and Speke Boulevard is now to house a 20,000 sq ft food store and a 6,500 sq ft industrial unit, both of which now have full consent within a hybrid application.

A&F Forecourts is also inked in as a partner for the scheme, with outline plans now approved for the proposed filling station and electric vehicle charging hub and Tim Hortons drive-thru.

Although now cleared of all buildings, the 5.9-acre site has long been problematic for Liverpool. Several owners failed to advance plans due to the prohibitive costs of remediation, estimated at £750,000. Earlier consents for the site included various blends of industrial, offices, a hotel and restaurants.

Aldi is amid an expansion spurt that saw it announce plans for a further 55 store locations in June. Its store in Speke will have 138 car parking spaces, while the commercial building could be split and used as trade counter units.

JLL is Aldi’s planning advisor for the project. Regular Aldi collaborator The Harris Partnership is scheme architect, while the professional team also includes BWB, ACS Consulting, TCM Management, Weetwood, Sirius and Cameron Rose Associates.

The £12m project, which according to Aldi’s estimate will bring £1m in wages to the local community each year, has won the PR battle on the ground, with 187 letters of support being submitted, against just five in opposition.

Objections also came from rival supermarkets Morrisons and Asda, the latter making an additional late submission that failed to sway the committee.

The proposed apartments come in a three-to-four storey building. Credit: via planning documents

Meanwhile, plans for 33 apartments for the over-55s in Woolton were approved by seven votes to one.

The proposal is for a prominent car sales and car wash site that sits in the V of the junction between Vale Road and the Menlove Avenue dual carriageway, within the Woolton Village conservation area.

On the opposite side of the road is the Derby Arms pub, with Woolton Manor close by. The plan is for a part three and part four-storey building of 31 apartments, with two further flats in the site’s lodge building.

Planner Cass Associates and architect Halsall Lloyd Partnership led the professional team, with the architect’s Brad Burrows addressing the committee. Issues had been raised around scale, and in particular, parking, given the site’s low number of on-site spaces, just 15.

Residents of neighbouring Reynolds Court were also among the dissenting voices.

At the meeting, Cllr Pat Moloney moved that the proposal be deferred pending a site visit to examine local parking provision, but failed to find a seconder.