Aldi plans to build supermarket on St Michaels Recreation Ground near Tenterden

Published: 14:27, 08 February 2021 | Updated: 14:50, 08 February 2021

Aldi has revealed plans to build a new supermarket on a recreation ground in the middle of a village.

Tenterden Town Council will discuss a request tonight by the budget supermarket's land agents to build a new store on the St Michaels rec.

St Michaels Recreation Ground - which sits opposite Esso - is the village's only recreational area of any size

If built, the green space off the A28 would be filled with a 1,880 sq m building alongside 126 parking spaces for shoppers.

An early masterplan appears to show a play area being retained to the north of the 2.42-acre site, which features a skate ramp and toilets.

An outcome of the plan if it were to go ahead would be the relocation of the popular annual family event, Tributes in the Park.

Whether the council agrees with the scheme - which would be Tenterden's third supermarket - will be decided at an internal committee meeting tonight.

In the upcoming 7pm session's agenda, town clerk Phil Burgess writes: "I have been approached by a company of land agents who act on behalf of Aldi in a nationwide capacity.

Where the St Michaels Aldi could be built

"Aldi would be very interested in having a branch within Tenterden.

"I did make it clear that the town council was looking to acquire land at present rather than sell but nonetheless, the company has submitted the attached drawings in support of their approach.

"I am fully aware this may be unpalatable to the council, particularly as it removes the only recreational area of any size in St Michaels but it is, nonetheless, my duty to present it."

This is followed by two objectives for the meeting - both to consider the application and that, "if rejected councillors should consider perhaps directing the land agents towards brownfield sites".

St Michaels Recreation Ground hosts the popular Tributes in the Park event

Already, the scheme is attracting a wide amount of concern among St Michaels residents on social media.

One asked, "Is it a joke?" while another wrote: "What is there to discuss? It's a recreation ground! I'm not against an Aldi in Tenterden, just the location."

Aldi, which already has a store in Victoria Road, Ashford, snapped up a site in Kennington's Canterbury Road in 2019 – a spot previously earmarked for a Miller & Carter steakhouse.