Nearly 40 proposed Aldi stores being held up by planning objections from rival supermarkets

Nearly 40 proposed new Aldi stores across the country are being held up by planning objections or legal challenges from rival supermarkets.

As Aldi and Lidl continue to take customers from rivals in droves in the cost of living crisis, both are being impeded from opening stores in new locations by planning complaints from those same rivals.

Aldi currently has 37 planned new stores across the country being held up by objections or judicial reviews raised competitors – approaching the number of shops it would hope to open in a year.

In Prescot, Merseyside, a proposed Aldi store has faced numerous objections from Tesco, including last-minute representations, disputing whether the discounter followed correct planning policies in considering the impact on other shops. The objections were recently dismissed by Knowsley Council’s Planning Committee, with one councillor branding them a “cheek”, since the local Tesco store would have negatively affected smaller retailers.

A planned new Aldi in Braintree, Essex – where it does not currently have a store – has been held up for three years amid complaints from rival supermarkets, with Asda having claimed the car park would not be big enough and could lead to excessive traffic in the area.

Meanwhile, Lidl’s new stores have been subject to 87 objections, eight pre-action protocols and four judicial reviews raised by competitors since 2020, the majority from Tesco.

A new Lidl in Crediton is being held up after Tesco sent a pre-action protocol judicial review letter to Mid Devon District Council requesting permission be quashed. The action came despite widespread support for the development, with 300 out of 319 letters of representation in favour.

Tesco and Asda are among a number of supermarkets to raise challenges. Both maintain they only ever object to rival stores based on material planning considerations, such as impact on the environment, and never on the basis of loss of trade or simply to delay.

The Grocer first reported on the discounters’ store programmes being disrupted by a barrage of competitor objections in September.

Commenting in November, Lidl GB CEO Ryan McDonnell said: “At the moment it seems to be part of the landscape.”

New Kantar data this week, for the 12 weeks to 27 November, put both Aldi and Lidl on record-high market shares of 9.3% and 7.4% respectively. An additional 1.5 million households shopped with Aldi compared with a year earlier as its sales grew 24.4%, faster than any other supermarket. Lidl was second-fastest growing, with sales up 22%.

Both discounters conduct their own local consultations over new store plans, regularly garnering widespread support.

Here are the 37 places where new Aldi stores are being held up by competitor objections or legal challenges: