An Aldi supermarket will form part of a major local property development in Rye, it’s been confirmed.
The German supermarket giant, along with Tunbridge Wells based property developer Decimus and retirement home developer McCarthy Stone, confirmed their participation on Monday.
If planning permission is granted, the Rye supermarket will be built on the John Jempson & Son road haulage yard site just west of Winchelsea Road, as part of a development that will also include retirement accommodation and new homes.
The development partners said: “The plans are at an early stage and the project team have recently sought advice from technical consultees. We are also in pre-application discussions with Rother District Council to agree a planning submission programme, which should be agreed shortly. A full public consultation will be undertaken in the new year.”
The groundbreaking news follows years of speculation and rumour in the town, with many residents known to support the introduction of a supermarket able to compete with Jempson’s Supermarkets, which has in effect had the local market to itself for many decades.
In an ironic twist, it should be noted that Jempson’s Supermarkets is in no way commercially related to John Jempson & Son road transport, although the owning families are known to be distantly connected. Jonathan Jempson, the owner / chairman of the haulage firm, said in May that the age and condition of the existing buildings on the firm’s site meant “they were coming to the end of their useful life and so redevelopment of the site is the only option”.
The existing tenants, Rye Emporium, JHB Engineering and Richard Cullinan Joinery will have to move new premises, although according to one of the tenants this may not be until September next year.
The development site was identified as housing allocation site H6 and earmarked for a possible 20 dwellings in the Rye Neighbourhood Plan.
Image Credits: David Worwood .
If an Aldi supermarket is granted planning permission for this site in Rye, it will radically push down grocery prices in the town, to the benefit of residents. The Aldi store in Hastings has been enormously successful and I expect the same outcome for Rye. It’s widely acknowledged by townsfolk that Jempson’s monopoly on physical supermarkets (in Rye and Peasmarsh) has unfortunately produced far higher prices over many years. One only has to visit the stores to see this is the case. Jempson’s recent deals with Co-op, and now Morrisons, have failed to push shopping basket prices down to a level that local people can get from shopping online with Tesco or Asda, for example. If Aldi receives the planning green light, it will be fascinating to see how Jempson’s responds. Over the years, Jempson’s has played a significant role in the community, supporting local producers, and was also steadfast during the pandemic. This doesn’t mean the company shouldn’t face competition, which it absolutely should for prices finally to fall. I’m very interested to see how this potential supermarket development works out and I fully support it coming to fruition.
Although Jempson’s is an independent company, they don’t set their prices: the supermarket chain they are a franchisee of (previously Nisa/Co-op, now Morrison’s) do. Jempson’s will therefore be unable to respond dynamically to lower prices from Aldi.
From my previous experience in the FMCG sector I’m confident that Jempsons had quite a lot of flexibility over their pricing. Buying groups set retail pricing in bands according to shop type. I suspect Jempsons would quite often have equivalent pricing to the convenience sector and not the supermarket sector, where they would inevitably be lower. They were able to do this because they had no competition in Rye. Quite often the same product would be cheaper in the Coop in Winchelsea Beach than in Rye.
My feeling is that prices have come down under the new Morrisons banner but I doubt they’ll be at supermarket pricing level yet in Rye
Yes, you may be right. If, under the terms of their contract with Morrison’s, Jempson’s were permitted to (and moreover were minded to) shift their Rye store pricing model from a ‘convenience store’ to those for a full size supermarket, I expect they’d then be better able to compete with Aldi.
Another point: Aldi will presumably also offer self-checkouts which – despite a lot of very vocal people detesting them – are a plus point for those who prefer the efficiency they offer, and lack of pressure to make small talk.
Good news for everyone! Even, ironically, for our wonderful local shops like the butcher and the greengrocer and the Rye deli because, although we will all be able to get our everyday goods at much better prices, the poor quality of much of the fresh stock (salad and veg particularly) at both Morrisons and Aldi will make shopping at local suppliers much more attractive!
Let’s wait until planning permission is granted we still have to contend with the “Dark side “ of these procedures , political, and environmental, interesting times !
Perhaps there will be more money in pockets for all of us in Rye.
One must agree with Stewart Doyles comments,plenty of hurdles to jump before we get what the Rye people deserve, equal competition for all, after the past shenanigans that we have seen over the past few years, the only thing I would not wish to see on that site is more retirement homes, our GPS are already overstretched, and voiced their concerns over the 60 bedroom care home that has permission to be built, adjacent to the medical centre.
What makes you think the people of Rye deserve an Aldi? I view it as a comedown. A nail in Rye’s coffin.
I was delighted to read that the plans include Retirement Accommodation and most importantly new homes. Both are desperately needed in Rue.
It will be brilliant for rye ; as majority of residents can’t afford to shop in Jempson; due to economic crisis; cost of living etc., for normal working folks; for residents retirees from different generations they can afford to shop ; due to their historic income ; “ The well off “, generation.
So Aldi ; is certainly a no brainier for normal working folks .
Hi Sarah – as a ‘resident retiree’ myself, I feel I should point out that I am most definitely not one of the ‘well off’ generation. Having to wait a further 6 years for my State Pension and not having savings, nor private pensions to fall back on, caused me and millions of other 1954 born women severe hardship. With our State Pension as our only income, every penny has somewhere to go and I know that I’m not speaking just for myself in this instance.
Have taken all the comments on board with interest but I note there have been no comments regarding vehicular access onto the A259. Surely nothing is going to happen until this is sorted.
Haven’t Jempsons lorries been been coming out onto the A259 for years already
Are we comparing the occasional Jempsons lorry to traffic visiting a supermarket?
Henry, I fear you’re incorrect. Of course Jempson’s set the prices for the majority of items in their stores, save for the minority of lines that Morrisons supplies. Morrisons and, before them, the Co-op, have/had no control over the prices for Jempson’s items. Jempson’s is not a franchisee of Morrisons, as far as I can see. I welcome supermarket competition in Rye: competition is vital to keep prices down. Regarding the proposed development, I don’t think 20-30 retired people who are well enough to live independently will impact our local GPs too badly, but I agree that the 60 nursing home residents soon-to-arrive behind the Hub on Rye Hill will have a negative effect on our GPs’ workload. All the GPs at Rye Medical Centre were against the nursing home on the grounds of the increased impact on their already heavy workload. May I also ask Rother District Council why no work on the nursing home has started, given that it’s now five-and-a-half years since planning permission was first granted? RDC’s primary condition was that work should start within three years and this hasn’t happened. Why is it one rule for ordinary people’s building projects and another for the favoured few? Many people whose loved ones could have been in the nursing home by now have seen their elderly relatives pass away. Even if you subtract 18 months for the pandemic, the project is still way behind schedule as far as I can see.
The access of this site onto the A road is going to be a major issue. Unlike the Jempsons site which is well catered for with 2 lanes and not on the A road .
Regarding access to the new supermarket development, there is plenty of room at the front of the site,for a small roundabout,which nodoubt will be implemented, before development begins.
Andrew you say another Nail in Ryes coffin.
If there was a vote by the Rye people on the Existing Supermarket which we have or have an Aldi Supermarket I know what the result would be Aldi by a mile.
I’m assuming you would prefer an Antique mall and more coffee shops.
Good luck to Aldi in a successful planning permission.
Vic v
This will be of great benefit to pensioners who are not all wealthy retirees and depend on cheaper shopping
There is no doubt that Rye needs another supermarket and one that is open 7 days a week.
It also needs another petrol, diesel and electric charging centre that has good access to the A259.
It also needs more housing in accessible areas.
Once the Eastern Tidal Walls are completed by the EA the area to the east of Rye, Kings Avenue and the old School site/ Creative centre will be allowed to be developed as this will be considered a low flood risk area.
This would be a much better site for a supermarket and fuel station with the potential for more housing and a much better access than the Jempsons haulage site.
The old warehousing site could still be used for a mix of housing and workshop units with limited retail that requires less traffic movements.
The old Quayside garage site owned by Martello Developments also is long overdue for an alternative use and is a blight on the area.
It certainly makes sence, Frank Langrishs suggestion the Friday gardham site could accomodate a petrol station as well, which incidentally is in the Neighbourhood plan, Once this site is developed, land that Frank owns behind the site East of the public footpath, could also be used for desperately needed social housing,to keep our young in the town, who will be the backbone in the future years.
It’s a shame It’s an Aldi that will plaster union flags everywhere in what will seem a battle of Britishness with Jempsons (from a German company). I’d much prefer a Sainsbury’s with petrol station and Argos. (Like the new shop in Staplehurst). The discounter chains tend to build and let the stores rot. (See Bexhill Lidl).
I do worry about Access. It’s already congested in that section of Rye. Have you ever tried to get out of Hythe Aldi when turning right? It’s a nightmare and can take 5 minutes.
What about flooding, isn’t that on a flood plain?
I don’t like Jempsons one bit for the monopoly and operating hours they have inflicted on the town and surrounding villages. But I don’t think this is the answer either.
What is now The Creative Centre was a school named after the wife of Brigadier Gardham, namely Freda Gardham.
marion Lovell
For high supermarket prices to come down in Rye, there has to be competition to Jempson’s — and logic suggests it needs to be one of the discount operators such as Aldi or Lidl. There would be little point in a Waitrose in Rye, for example, because prices would no doubt prove similar to Jempson’s. A Tesco or Asda would also offer viable competition to Jempson’s, but not to the same extent as a discounter.
There are three possible sites for a new supermarket in or near Rye. One is the Winchelsea Road site currently targeted by Aldi. The second is the Freda Gardham site. The third is Rye Harbour Road, where land exists to locate a supermarket, so long as it’s not on the protected strip of land that acts as a buffer between Rye and Rye Harbour. The problem with RH is that a car would be necessary for customers, just as it is for Jempson’s in Peasmarsh. As an aside, I should say that ongoing development along RH Road needs to be monitored closely to ensure it doesn’t get out of hand.
The potential for flooding affects all those parts of Rye not located on the Citadel or neighbouring escarpments, but as one commenter has pointed out, the Environment Agency’s Rother Tidal Walls project is currently happening and I believe it’s designed to protect the area for up to 35 years. Design remedies for a new food store at the planning stage can be introduced to mitigate or avoid the flood threat and to alleviate access issues. However, even with the higher tidal walls in place there will be a small risk of a ‘super-extreme’ tidal event, or pluvial flooding could occur. This could impact any of the possible sites, or any of the low-lying parts of Rye in fact.
People arguing for a ‘petrol station’ in Rye are on the wrong side of history. We do not need another petrol/diesel station. What we need is simply a facility to charge up electric vehicles. Why not install a small tidal energy generator on the River Rother, next to Monk Brettton Bridge, to power a vehicle recharge station at the Freda Gardham site?
Retail has changed forever in the UK, as more and more people simply order their goods from online retailers like Amazon, Argos and so on. Save perhaps for food provision, there’s no need for large physical retail stores in a small historic town like Rye. Of course, we all know that many people in the Rye area avoid Jempson’s high prices by ordering their groceries online for home delivery.