Aldi secures consent in Leyland

The retailer has been given the go-ahead to replace three buildings with a 19,000 sq ft store off School Lane in Leyland.

Supported by planner Avison Young, Aldi put forward proposals for the store, which sits next to an existing nursery on a plot covering around two acres, last October.

Two existing office buildings and a former school are set to be knocked down to make way for the scheme, which will be accessed off School Lane.

The original designs, pictured above, were for a grey-brick cladding, but these have been changed following suggestions from March’s planning committee, which deferred a decision to ask for the building’s appearance to be changed.

The plans returned to last night’s committee with an altered façade of red brick and was approved by members. A number of councillors had proposed refusing the scheme on air quality grounds, but were warned by planning officers this would be difficult to defend on appeal.

A petition of 390 signatures against the scheme had been put forward, along with 28 formal objections lodged with the council. There were also 40 letters of support put forward to planning officers.