Inquiry into £2m Biggar store bid

May 9 2008

A BATTLE by cut-price supermarket firm Aldi to build a £2m store in Biggar got underway this week.

A public inquiry began on Tuesday into South Lanarkshire Council’s decision to refuse the German giant permission to build a 1531 square metre store in Market Road.

Councillors agreed with officials who felt that Aldi had not made a strong enough case justifying the use of land zoned for industry.

They also said Aldi had not convinced them that a new store will not have an adverse effect upon the vitality or viability of Biggar Town Centre.

The appeal inquiry in Biggar Municipal Hall has heard that Aldi submitted 330 postcards signed by local people supporting their store plan.

It also heard that 17 individual letters and a petition signed by 538 people objecting to the plan had been lodged with South Lanarkshire Council.

Objectors claim the new store will decimate the small market town.

Local objectors say the revenue which Aldi will take out of the town will be felt in all businesses, with an estimated 25% reduction in High Street turnover.

This could result in more jobs being lost in town shops than would be created by the supermarket.

Supermarket bosses, however, claim that 86 per cent of Biggar residents do their weekly shop outside the town centre.

A spokesman said:”Almost 90 per cent of Biggar residents are getting into their cars and driving an approximately 25 mile round trip to the nearest supermarket, instead of shopping in the town centre.

“This equates to millions of pounds of shopping spend leaving the town every week.”

The retailer believe that the town centre would benefit greatly from an Aldi store, encouraging shoppers to stay within the town for the weekly shop.

According to their research 82 per cent of residents undertaking their top-up shopping (day to day purchases) within the confines of Biggar.

Aldi say they recognise that there is a great opportunity to encourage more people to stay in the town centre to shop if a suitable retail offering was available.

The retailer believe that this would benefit all local businesses in the town.

Local resident Margaret Young supports the new store and thinks that it would greatly benefit the whole Biggar area and businesses alike.

She said: “If we had a retail offering like an Aldi foodstore in the town shoppers could carry out the majority of the week's shopping between it and the other local shops.

“At the moment, a large number of people are getting in their cars, if they have cars, every week to drive for miles to do their weekly shopping. Not only is this inconvenient and ultimately expensive in petrol, it is very bad for the environment,” she stated.