A third national chain has unveiled plans to move into the new St George’s Retail Park on the outskirts of Newport — once it is built.
Joining Costa and McDonald’s, Aldi has been the latest to announce where it will be coming to next on the Isle of Wight.
It would be the discount supermarket’s third store on the Island, with others already in Cowes and Lake.
IWC licensing application
The news has been confirmed through a licensing application to the Isle of Wight Council, where the supermarket giant is seeking permission to sell alcohol.
If the licence is approved, it would allow the shop to sell alcohol to customers for all the hours it is proposed to be open — 6am to midnight, Monday to Sunday.
Documents submitted as part of the application are asking for the licence to start from 8th September, despite the store not being physically built yet.
View the plans
You can view the licence application, 22/01153/LAPNEW, on the council’s register.
Comments can be made until 7th September.
Approved planning permission
A second round of planning permission for the St George’s Retail Park was approved earlier this year following changes to the designs — which saw the addition of the Costa Drive-Thru and a shrinking in overall retail floor space.
During the discussions, South Coast Leisure — the developers behind the scheme — said all but one of the units had a tenant lined up.
Unit three
Unit three, which is the one Aldi would be inhabiting, had always been rumoured to hold the store as it had been earmarked for a ‘Limited Assortment Discounter’ foodstore.
Plans for a retail park on the former home of Newport Football Club have been in the works for years, with designs first unveiled in 2018.
Work started at new ground
Now four years later, preliminary work has started at the football club’s new ground near the Racecourse Roundabout in Whippingham, but final planning conditions are waiting to be discharged before building work can start.
It has been required by the Isle of Wight council that the football ground is available to use before the retail units can be brought into use.
Objection to Costa drive through
Costa has also recently submitted a planning application to finalise the look of their outlet.
The concept has been criticised by Matt Sprooles, owner of local cafe chain Comicoffee UK, who said, in an objection to the council, with concerns over the cost of parking and traffic congestion in Newport already, the drive-thru offer would give customers an easier option to grab refreshments instead of trying to support a local coffee shop.
The signage application is yet to be determined.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
Image: jeepersmedia under CC BY 2.0
