Peeblesshire News | News | Aldi to turn to Peebles after Biggar rejection

Friday, 5th December, 2008

Published: Friday, 4th July, 2008 12:00

Aldi to turn to Peebles after Biggar rejection

By David O'Leary

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SUPERMARKET giants Aldi have had their application for a new store in Market Road, Biggar, rejected by South Lanarkshire Council.

And may now switch their attention towards Peebles as a location for a new development.

The South Lanarkshire Council planning committee decision came after an upsurge of opposition from local people, which included 17 objection letters and a petition with 538 signatures.

Local traders had feared an Aldi store would force them into shop closures and job losses and that the vital personal service they offered would be lost.

There were also concerns that a loss of shops would have a knock-on effect in reducing the number of tourists to the town.

Chairman of the Biggar Business Group Bill Rennie said: “I’m very happy indeed with this decision. In my opinion Aldi would have destroyed a number of local businesses.

“We are convinced that allowing Aldi into the town would only have served to aid them in developing a monopoly, which would have been very unhealthy for the community.”

The retailer said that the store would provide ongoing jobs for local people and help support the local economy by encouraging residents to remain in the town centre to shop.

It was claimed in research carried out by Aldi that 86 per cent of Biggar residents are at present doing their shopping outside the town centre.

And believe that Biggar would have benefited greatly from the store they by encouraging these shoppers to stay within the town for their weekly shop.

However, Councillors felt that Aldi had not made a strong enough case in convincing them that a new store would not have an adverse effect upon the vitality or viability of Biggar Town Centre.

Councillor Hamish Stewart for Clydesdale East, who sat on the planning committee, said: “I don’t believe that it was commercially viable anyway, I think they over-egged the pudding slightly.

“A high number of people who do a weekly shop outside the town are commuters. They would continue to do a weekly shop on the way home in Penicuik or Lanark anyway”

“It would have been detrimental to all businesses in the area not just those in the town centre. I feel people would have been left with less services due to the knock-on effect that would have arose.

David Grant, ALDI Property Director, said: “Our lawyers are currently studying the reporter's verdict and we will make a decision shortly as to how to progress.

"We are particularly disappointed for hundreds of local residents who took the time and effort to support Aldi's plan to open a store in the town.

"They can rest assured we are fully committed to bringing the Aldi retail offer to Biggar and will redouble our efforts to find a suitable site on which to build a store to serve the town."

The German retailer has plans to become an established household name in Scotland over the next 10 to 15 years and aims to open approximately 10 stores a year.

When asked about the likelihood of Peebles as a proposed site for one of these stores, David Grant said: “We don’t currently have an active site in Peebles, but we would definitely consider Peebles as a location for a store if a suitable site became available.

“The only store that we currently have in the Borders is in Galashiels, but we are considering towns including Hawick, Jedburgh, Selkirk and Kelso as potential locations for sites.”

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