Dudley Council planning officers are recommending approval of a controversial extension to the Aldi supermarket in Wollaston. If councillors approve the plan at their meeting on Monday, January 13, the store on Bridgnorth Road will grow by 340 square metres, eating into a much-loved green space behind it.
Objectors say the building would encroach onto a play area at the head of The Dell cul-de-sac and create more traffic in the area as a larger store would require more deliveries. Council officers agree the play area would be reduced by around a third but say Aldi has promised enough improvements in the area to offset the loss of green space.
In a report for the planning committee, officers said: “ It is recognised that the applicant has detailed proposals to improve the remaining open space in line with feedback from the community, which would make the remaining space more useable.” Aldi has also agreed to spend £47,500 on improvements to nearby Wollaston Recreation Ground, including the provision of seven items of static gym equipment.
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Feelings are running high in Wollaston about the plan, objectors have submitted an 82-name petition claiming the extension would exacerbate noise issues and block natural light to neighbouring properties as well as reduce the size of the green space. Wollaston councillor Andrew Tromans has also voiced his concerns about the loss of green space and more traffic and noise.
Another Wollaston councillor, Cat Eccles, who is also Stourbridge ’s MP, has a different point of view. Ms Eccles said: “The extension would enable the Wollaston store to increase storage capacity on site and therefore reduce the number of HGVs delivering to the village each day.
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“I have worked with residents, Dudley Council and Aldi to find a compromise over the public open space at the end of The Dell in Wollaston. “The planning application in question proposes levelling and landscaping the area in perpetuity (currently a slope) making it an attractive, usable space and I’m glad residents’ concerns were addressed by the applicant.”