Plans for £10m ‘big Aldi’ in Greater Manchester town thrown out with fears it would cause ‘bedlam’

Plans for a new £10m Aldi supermarket have been rejected after councillors expressed concerns about traffic and road safety. Aldi wanted to build a 1,800 sq ft store on Chorley New Road, close to the notoriously congested Beehive roundabout and Bolton Wanderers’ Toughsheet Stadium.

Access would have been via a new slip road entrance on Chorley New Road, near the roundabout. Vehicles would have exited from a different junction onto De Havilland Way, controlled by traffic lights.

At a meeting of Bolton town hall’s planning committee, Bryn Richards, real estate director for Aldi, said: “This would be our eighth store in Bolton and together with our regional distribution centre we already employ about 1,500 people in the borough.

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“This store will add to our commitment to Bolton. The land for redevelopment is a long-standing objective for the council with it being allocated for employment generating purposes. Aldi will create at least 40 full-time equivalent jobs with the highest pay in food retail, above the real living wage.

“The proposal is a vote of confidence in the local economy with our investment expected to be £10m.”

Bolton’s highways team said new lights on De Havilland Way would actually aid flow at the Beehive roundabout by creating ‘breaks in traffic’ for vehicles travelling along Chorley New Road.

However, several councillors expressed concern about traffic and road safety in the already congested area. Coun Sue Priest, said: “I don’t know how the exit will work, it will be bedlam.

“I cannot see how this will enhance or mitigate the severe congestion that we already have.

“There is severe congestion