1 week Ago
A CHESTER Aldi store has applied to have its delivery hours extended until 11pm each night, including on Sundays and Bank Holidays. An application from the country’s fourth biggest supermarket company for its Parkgate Road store was lodged with Cheshire West and Chester (CWAC) Council’s planning department in mid-March. The store was built in 2017 and now bosses have applied for an extension for its delivery hours to go beyond 10pm from Monday to Saturday, and 4pm on Sunday, but to 11pm.
A design and access statement said: “Aldi is seeking to extend the current delivery and service hours of the existing consent through variation of Condition 11 and 29, in order to meet Aldi’s operational requirements. “The delivery and servicing hours as presently conditioned are particularly restrictive as they largely align with the trading hours. “This means, for example, that staff often struggle to replenish fresh produce before the food store opens for business, given that deliveries can only arrive a maximum of one hour prior to weekday / Saturday opening.
“The extended delivery and servicing hours sought by Aldi will allow for greater flexibility to better suit the applicant’s requirements, role and function as an important local food store within the Chester area. “This will ensure that fresh produce will be available on the shelves at the point of opening and would also avoid customer vehicle and HGV servicing vehicles conflicts during trading hours. “The relatively minor changes would enable delivery and servicing at the supermarket to take place an hour later Monday to Saturday and four hours later on Sundays.
“The proposed delivery hours align with the operator’s standard requirement nationwide.” The statement said the application is based on up to four deliveries a day and said that it can provide evidence that the changes would not impact on the residents around the food store. It added: “The store has also been in operation now for a number of years establishing the retail use of the site.
“The site therefore forms part of an existing commercial area on a busy highway route where existing ambient noise levels are already elevated throughout the day and evening.” Consultation on the plans will be open to residents until Saturday, May 3 and will be advertised until Friday, May 16..
