Twenty months after Aldi lodged its planning application to build a £5 million supermarket in Rye, it was approved by Rother District Council’s (RDC) Planning Committee on Thursday 12 February.
RDC’s planning division recommended approval of Aldi, with extensive conditions. In short, the recommendation was reached because the benefits of a second food store in Rye were judged to outweigh the disadvantages.
It will mean a huge shake-up of Rye’s grocery business, which has long been dominated by independent operator Jempson’s.
According to the planning report, benefits would include, “The provision of an anchor low-cost food store, which will provide residents an alternative option for food shopping as well as providing a supermarket option on Sunday which will also serve the local and wider population and support linked trips.”
The downsides of the Aldi proposal would be a failure to provide B1 Class office space and an adverse impact on the vitality and viability of the town centre. However, the report says any loss of floorspace is amply compensated by a huge amount of additional space in Rye and Rye Harbour and there would be gains from employment, better use of the land and an annual £4.7 million boost to the local economy.
“On balance it is considered that the benefits of the proposal in this case would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the conflicts with the Development Plan”.
Aldi will pay £49,950 to support existing bus services, £30,000 for local bus stop improvements and £15,000 to enhance the pedestrian route into central Rye. The firm would also improve the current site access junction onto the A259. This will include better “visibility splays” of 43 metres both sides.
Interestingly, RDC chose not to place two related planning applications for Decimus’ 16 houses and McCarthy Stone’s 43-unit retirement block on the Planning Committee agenda.
RDC reveals it received 329 public support comments, 35 objections and five general comments regarding the Aldi proposal. Rye Town Council has lodged no objection to the planning application.
Research suggests that the edge-of-centre Aldi store on the west side of Winchelsea Road will have the benefit of “clawing back convenience shoppers who are travelling out of the district”. The supermarket’s main catchment area is expected to be within a five-minute drive.
An independent report provided to RDC estimated that Jempson’s central Rye supermarket could lose up to 37% of its turnover and the Class E(a) retail sector about 9%. But a reduction in “linked trips” could be mitigated by Aldi’s agreement to offer two hours’ free parking, which allows for linked trips to the town centre.
The RDC planning report concludes that while the second supermarket may have an impact on the vitality and viability of Rye town centre, it’s not a significant impact. “Therefore….all other material considerations must be taken into account and balanced when determining the application.”
It appears likely that the need for an alternate “food store offering” and greater choice (competition) in the sector may have been major factors in the planning assessment.
Aldi certainly did not enjoy an easy planning process. Major hurdles emerged in the form of flood management strategy and issues with National Highways over the site access junction and the safe and efficient operation of the A259. The German company was initially not keen to pay £49,950 to subsidise bus services but has now agreed to do so.
Aldi in Rye: the facts
Estimated build cost: £5 million
Build time: Two years
Site area: 0.9 ha
Gross external area: 1,951 sqm
Net sales area: 1,155 sqm
Employees: 50
Indirect employment: 26
Construction workers: 35
Economic impact: £2.3 million a year in direct gross value added (GVA); plus £2.4 million a year via indirect and induced employment
Two hours’ free parking for customers
Parking spaces: 107
Electric vehicle charging spaces: 4
Rooftop solar panels: 80kWp
Image Credits: Harris Partnership , James Stewart .
At long last,hopefully great news for the shoppers in Rye.
Agreed! And the naysayers remain of course perfectly free to not use it.
Competition will be altered to a monopoly which takes away most of Jempsons trade and the High Street will collapse.
These are my predictions for Rye
Er, my definition of a monopoly is what Jempsons have benefitted from for decades and what they’ve been fighting to retain for the past two years.
Why on earth would the High Street collapse because of a new supermarket?
Where is the grocery store in the High Street?
Exactly. People who use the greengrocer and butcher in Cinque Ports Street will continue to do so but Aldi will be welcomed by those who are less well off. Although cheaper since the collaboration with Morrisons Jempsons is still expensive and unaffordable to many who will now not have to travel out of town for their groceries. Also, with so many holiday let properties in the town it is a no-brainer to have a large supermarket that opens on a Sunday.
Quite the opposite. I will visit Rye more often, including the High Street.
A mad decision from the point of view of loading up the A259 with a potential bottleneck for traffic
and , in the case of any road accidents , the backing up of traffic through the whole of Rye making access for ambulance , police and fire services very slow and very difficult .
About 45 years ago there was a prolonged campaign to find a way to remove traffic from the A259 and now there is this proposal to create a real bottleneck ! What madness !
This proposal , if passed , will be a very sad day for Rye . The actual town will become like any other and lose much of its current , slightly sleepy charm . What are we doing ? !!
It’s all about money . We have lost our senses .
I agree entirely
You should visit the huge ALDI between Bexhill and St. Leonard’s. Very similar road situation. Absolutely no problem whatsoever.
Genuinely think the town will come to regret this decision. I do hope I’m wrong, however.
I’m still upset that there is no waitrose or marks and spencer foodhall in or near rye.
I don’t want a faceless chain store in Rye. I’m very happy to live in an area where local suppliers are directly supported and their goods sold in the local supermarket. Jempsons does a huge amount of direct support to the local community. The Jempson Foundation has made donations of £8,200 to Rye Foodbank, hosts all kinds of charitable events and are involved in numerous local community initiatives. Waitrose and M&S couldn’t care less!!! They are motivated purely by profit. This is the reason they don’t exist in Rother where 40% of households live in poverty. Jempsons is a brilliant supermarket that cares about its employees and our community. We are fortunate to have them.
Well said, Maggs. Jempson’s have already leant support to Rye & District Youth Club too.
I don’t think it will effect people’s shopping, Jempsons will just have to get use to the competition,they will always have their loyal customers I’m sure.
Hasn’t there been a monopoly for years in this town Hugh, as for the high street to collapse, what utter scaremongering, we are one of the most sought after towns in the south east,with increased tourists each year
Must well be over a hundred comments about Aldi and Jempson in the last 2 years for and against the construction of Aldi supermarket but the latest comments by Hugh must top the lot or is he having a laugh.my prediction is completely the opposite.
Its one of the best thing that has happened in rye so lets hope it get the go ahead I personally can’t see what the problem is if you want to shop anywheres in rye just do it nobody is forcing you
Take a walk in rye on Saturdays you’re be lucky to see a rye person all gone shopping elsewhere.
Vic v
Aldi and Lidl, two large German corporations, have opened hundreds of stores across many American and continental European towns and cities, mostly on the outskirts of these places and people have pretty much flocked to them. The results for smaller and midsized towns have been devastating. Closed green grocers, delis, fish mongers, butchers and other independent shops. The variety of offerings in locations with discount supermarkets have decreased and the homogeneity of products increased. AI analysis indicates this takes 2-4 years to see the negative impact. So to all of you in and around Rye who complain the town isn’t what it used to be with its loss of a variety of high street shops, an Aldi will accelerate this decline. And in a world of increasing dominance of large multinational companies it saddens me that Rye soon appears to be contributing to that. I predict Lidl will be next to arrive.
Really? We only have one greengrocer and a butcher, nothing to do with Jempsons and will survive if Aldi open a cheaper alternative. I’m fed up with the elite in Rye pontificating on how ordinary people should live, the high street is full of twee shops or junk shops selling old leather suitcases. People need an alternative that challenges Jempsons.
The nimbys who are now coming out of the woodwork,many can afford the monoply of jempsons and their high prices, but there are two sides to the shoppers in Rye,the ones that can afford high prices and the ones that cannot,and travel further afield for their groceries. So Maggie ivatts is right 40% in Rother District live in poverty, that tells us all why we need a budget supermarket, Over the years we have seen these people oppose any improvements in the town, our grocers and butchers have weathered the storm of jempsons nearby,and the high street will not change, as more and more people visit the town,of course there will be congestion, illegal parking,and on our pavements,,has been happening for years, and is up to the police to address, and my parting shot to most of these people, many that haven’t been in the town 10 minutes, the real Ryers of this town are at last going to be rewarded, instead of having to go out of town each week for their shopping.
Sorry to disagree with Maggs.
Competition is good and, to be honest, some of Jempson’s greengrocery is tired or beyond ‘best before’ dates. They need to up their game. Luckily we have Sweet Williams, always excellent, as an alternative.
I was told by someone who knows Germany well: ‘Germans like high quality, but are naturally careful with money’ hence Aldi and Lidl.
Re: the access, it’s better than the one in Bexhill and not difficult, compared to South Undercliff.
As for Maggie ivatts concern about contributions to food banks,for her information Aldi since 2019 have contributed 30 million meals to food banks,and I am sure they will contribute to Ryes one,once they are established in Rye
Nearly all the comments on this and similar articles are based on personal opinion, dare I say assumption? Often theoretically backed by statistics from other towns which will have their own unique factors so are not necessarily relevant. The powers that be have been deliberating this application for a very long time, like it or not they are the experts in the field and have come, finally, to the conclusion that it’s an acceptable/desirable development
I make my own judgements, when I can, based on facts – here are some to consider (sometimes referred to by those who oppose the development ironically) !
– 40% of the residents of Rother District live in poverty – these people need somewhere affordable to shop, the presence of an excellent and much in demand food bank is not actually something we should be proud of although of curse we should be immensely proud of those who provide it
– many families and pensioners living in poverty unfortunately have to opt for cheap mass produced, over processed foods as supplied by many of the lower cost supermarkets to help them manage budgets
– quality of produce is very important to most shoppers, just because its locally sourced doesn’t necessarily make it better and it almost certainly makes it more expensive (not many of the Morrison’s fresh food products sold by Jempsons are locally produced anyway). Aldi products are consistently rated highly by independent surveys
– the predicted downfall of the High Street makes no sense to me – last time I looked the butchers and greengrocers left the high street in droves when supermarket shopping took off decades ago, all thats left for everyday shopping needs are a couple of chemists and I’m pretty sure if there was a way Mr Jempson would put one in his Rye store of he could, just as he did at Peasmarsh
– it seems disingenuous to me to suggest that the damage to Jempsons trade will be unfair, what about the damage they have done over the year to other traders ( Launderette, butchers, greengrocers, hardware stores etc.), competition works both ways surely ?
– Rye has been struggling for some time with obstructive parking on the approaches to the town as well as extensive roadworks and accidents causing traffic hold-ups – reading that Highways England plan to address the issue in South Undercliff at least will go some way to mitigating concerns over traffic build up ( the recent four day temporary traffic lights caused by sewer failures requiring tankers to queue 24 hours a day in Winchelsea Road illustrates that traffic disruption may not be as bad as expected)
In some cases it may actually be that we won’t know the facts until after the event – that’s life and I hope it will be nowhere near as bad as the doomsayer’s predict
In other cases facts can be proven – I intend to do a shopping basket comparison between Aldi, Jempsons and leading supermarkets over the next few weeks, hopefully Rye News will publish my results
Finally, on a personal note having Aldi in Rye will benefit me as I will be able to buy affordable food of good quality without having to travel outside the town, thereby reducing my carbon footprint and freeing up time and money to spend elsewhere in the town !
Delighted to hear Aldi coming into rye . We need look after the locals; that are struggling with this 21 century economy.
Rye needs to accept the changes in this society. If people don’t like it ; they can move away from rye .
The report highlights a significant economic risk for existing retailers, particularly Jempson’s Rye store, as the projected loss in turnover suggests that new retail developments can disrupt local market balance if not carefully managed.
Market balance? There is no balance, there is a monopoly. A monopoly that has been successfully managed for many years, to the detriment of Rye and its surrounding residents.
Simon Parsons, well said. Society, large or small, needs to embrace change even if it rearranges the status quo.