Plans for a new Aldi supermarket on the site of a former North East colliery have been given the green light by the council.
40 jobs are set to be created by a new Aldi supermarket in Philadelphia near Houghton-le-Spring after it was approved by the council last week.
Sunderland City Council’s Planning and Highways Committee, at a meeting this week, approved a planning application for land off Philadelphia Lane between Shiney Row and Newbottle, and north of Houghton.
Those behind the scheme said the principle of a retail food shop had already been established on the site through the granting of outline planning permission.
During a council public consultation on the new planning application, there were 12 comments in support and two objections, the Local Democracy Reporting service (LDRS) confirmed.
Supporters said the supermarket would create jobs and benefit residents of new build houses in the area, as well as reducing the need to drive to similar shops further away.
One objection came from discount retailer chain Lidl raising technical concerns about the Aldi application and the new shop’s potential impact on Houghton-le-Spring town centre.
A statement on behalf of Lidl said a new “out-of-centre retail unit may further deter people away from visiting and shopping in the town centre” and could have “a significant adverse impact on [its] vitality”.
Sunderland City Council planning officers, in a report prepared ahead of a decision-making meeting this week, recommended Aldi’s plans for approval.
It was noted that the plans were “in accordance with both local and national retail planning policy” and would “not appear to lead to a material loss of daylight or privacy for the occupiers of nearby land and buildings”.
This included the development’s siting “within the context of recently constructed dwelling houses to the north and the under construction roundabout on Philadelphia Lane”.
This comes a year after The Northern Echo reported on leaflets handed out to the community during a public consultation and reaction from the community was mixed.
A leaflet detailing plans for the 1,140sqm site was posted through the letterboxes of nearby homes that invited them to an online public consultation from August 21 to September 4 2023.
Said development is still ongoing a year on.
Online, the reaction from locals was mixed, as many pointed out an apparent lack of schools and GP surgeries in the area as they claim the land could have been used differently.
One resident said: “I wonder if the people who are looking at buying a house there are checking for schools, docs and dentists as there are very few spaces at any.
“Also traffic is horrendous up there at busy times so putting a supermarket there will make it 10 times worse. It's not like we are desperate for more supermarkets and the local independent shops will suffer.”
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A planning condition added to the development also finalised the trading hours that the Aldi store can operate under.
This includes 8am to 11pm (Monday to Saturday and Bank Holidays)
and 9am to 6pm (Sunday / Bank Holiday).
For more information on the Aldi plan or council decision, visit Sunderland City Council’s planning portal website.
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