New Aldi superstore gets green light as it is ‘not sustainable’ for the people of Llay to travel to Gwersyllt or Wrexham

A new Aldi supermarket is to be built in Wrexham after plans were last night backed by councillors.

The store will be built adjacent to a large scale housing development at the corner of Gresford Road and the Straight Mile in Llay.

Bryn Richards, a representative for Aldi, said the new store will “fill a gap in supermarket shopping provision in the north of Wrexham” and that up to 40 jobs will be created.

He continued: “It is a modest development of a scale appropriate to the community of Llay.

“We know Llay is a growing settlement, and we have identified this site as it is accessible to existing residents and new residents coming to the housing development immediately to the east.

“It is not sustainable to expect residents to travel to Gwersyllt, Wrexham and Broughton for their supermarket shopping on a weekly or more frequent basis.

“There is a clear need for the store with over £50 million – that’s two thirds of expenditure – leaking out into the catchment area.”

Mr Richards added that work on the store would not begin until improvement works on the Crown junction had been carried out.

Although the application saw 114 representations made in support of the new supermarket, concerns were raised over the impact the development on a highway network which already has long-standing traffic issues.

Councillor Rob Walsh, who represents the Llay ward, questioned whether the planned works on the junction would be enough to cope with the demand of the new housing development nearby and supermarket.

He added that he had spoken to residents who live across the way from the site who are concerned that they will be unable to exit their driveways due to potential increased traffic and congestion.

Cllr David Bithell requested that the application is changed from including a zebra crossing to instead providing a pelican crossing, stating: “The flow of traffic is controlled by traffic lights.

“This is will be essential for the people walk in, especially elderly and children, to make that area, safer.

“So I propose that we alter condition 17 and remove the zebra crossing and have a pelican crossing there.”

A representative from the council’s highways department said that doing so would cause an increase in traffic in the area.

Planning officer, David Williams, added: “We’ve got to be it’s got to be proportionate and reasonable.

“I’m going back to the original permission for for residential developments at Home Farm where a crossing points to link the existing settlements with the residential developments.

“There was no indication at that time that it needed by the inspector that it needed to be a pelican crossing.

“Given the fact that they’ve provided a crossing point and a safe crossing points, which we are are happy with both as both planning and and highways, I think it would be unreasonable to insist upon a pelican crossing

“If they were prepared to to offer it, then that’s a different set of circumstances.”

“If you look at the development in the round, I think to refuse potentially an application based on the difference between a zebra crossing and a pelican crossing would put us in a very difficult position if it went to an appeal.”

However Cllr Bithell argued that the safety of residents needed to be considered with the additional traffic being generated by the housing development.

He moved that the application is approved by the committee but that a pelican crossing is provided for pedestrians instead of a zebra crossing.

This was passed with seven councillors voting in favour, four voting against and four abstaining from the vote.