Cumberland Council follows recommendation and approves plans for two new Aldi stores

Food retailer, Aldi, has been granted planning permission for two new food stores in Cumbria.

Cumberland Council has given the green light for the schemes in Whitehaven and Egremont, which include the relocation of Aldi’s existing store in Whitehaven to a new location on Preston Street.

CGI of Whitehaven store

The site is allocated for development and has been identified as an “opportunity site” for a range of uses including retail, in the council’s adopted Local Plan.

In Egremont, the new store would be located on land at East Road/Wyndham Place.

The site, which has lain dormant since 2020, was previously used as a petrol station and Ford dealership.

It is allocated as an “opportunity site” suitable for commercial and employment development within the recently adopted Local Plan.

Aldi is proposing to redevelop the site with a new discount food store, to improve retail choice locally, and bring the site back into productive use.

The plans for both stores will provide a supposed combined investment of £14m into the local economy across the two stores, creating  up to 50 full-time equivalent jobs for local people and the retention of staff at the existing Whitehaven store.

A spokesperson for Aldi, said: “We have worked closely with officers and amended both schemes in light of comments received from Cumberland Council.

“We submitted our applications to Cumberland Council for Whitehaven and Egremont in 2023 and 2024, respectively, following extensive community consultation. We were encouraged by the level of support for both stores with over 90% of respondents expressing support for the developments.”