Budget supermarket Aldi reveals further details on planned Henley store

A PLANNED new Aldi store in Henley will be the “smallest” that they do.

The Henley Standard reported in May that the German-supermarket chain was looking to open in the town.

This was confirmed earlier this month when Aldi announced it was launching an online public consultation for a store located in Reading Road.

It is being proposed for a store on the current Jewson’s site, with the builders’ merchant set to move up the road to the former Gibbs and Dandy site.

The consultation, which closes tomorrow, was a chance for residents to give their views on the initial designs for the scheme before the start of any formal planning process.

On Thursday last week, residents had the opportunity to meet with the project team behind the scheme during a presentation at the town hall.

They included planning consultants Avison Young, architects Kendall Kingscott and members of Aldi’s real estate team.

Sam Kightley, who works for Aldi’s real estate team, said that the store that was planned for the site would be on the smaller end.

He said: “In terms of the shop floor it’s our relatively standard design. It’s our smallest design in terms of scale and massing.

“In terms of height, it’s the smallest that we generally would go to try and sort of minimise any effect on the neighbours.”

He said that the exhibition had been a good opportunity to meet with the local community. Mr Kightley said: “It’s nice to meet the local residents and get their feedback on the scheme.

“We’ve got some neighbours to the site there that are having a good conversation with us.

“We ultimately want to provide more choice for residents to get discount, excellent prices and really good quality food.”

Planning consultant Emily Hill, of Avison Young, said the response so far to the online consultation was mostly positive. She said: “We have already had 600 responses and about 82 per cent in support. We are just keen to hear the residents views before we finalise the planning application so we can make sure [their concerns] are dealt with before we go forward.”

Architect Matt Wilkins, of Kendall Kingscott, said that some of the topics that had been raised were about planting around the site and the access.

He said: “I know there are concerns about the highways and we’ve got transport consultants here to hopefully address some of those.

“We were keen to get any feedback on the design of the building, but also the boundary treatments, because I know there are nearby residents that will be concerned about how we maintain green landscaping where we can and the treatment of the watercourse.”

He added: “We are just here to get everyone’s views first before we finalise.”

Sue Nadin, who lives in Park Road near to the site, said she had come along to raise the issue of planting with the project team.

She said: “I’m particularly interested in the borders adjacent to Park Road because at the moment the conifers are out of control. And I’m also interested in noise and light pollution.”

Ms Nadin added that she thought the store was “great news” for Henley. She said: “I think it’s a very good store and I think they will be very ethical and sustainable in respect of the building.

“I think it’s great that they’ve got this today to just have the opportunity to listen to the local residents and what their concerns are.”

Julia Herbke, of Simmons Road, said that she thought it was a “fantastic idea” that Henley was getting another supermarket.

She said: “Tesco I find could do with some competition because they have a bit of a monopoly.

“And with all these houses being built in Shiplake, you think, “where will the people shop? I think there will be a market there for the new Aldi and it’d be healthy for us to get more choice.”

She added: “The site is already there, so it’s not like they have to take down a lot of trees or anything.”

l What do you think? Write to: Letters, Henley Standard, Caxton House, 1 Station Road, Henley or email letters@henleystandard.co.uk