![\"How](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1747425790_822_0_May25-Aldi-Yate-Cgi-Image-Aldi-And-Kendall-Kingscott.jpg\")
How the Aldi at Riverside Retail Park in Yate would look (Image: Aldi\/Kendall Kingscott)<\/p>\nSouth Gloucestershire councillors heard the alternative was ‘decay and dereliction’How the Aldi at Riverside Retail Park in Yate would look (Image: Aldi\/Kendall Kingscott)<\/p>\n
Controversial plans for an Aldi at a former cinema that split the community in Yate<\/a> have been approved by councillors unanimously.<\/p>\n South Gloucestershire<\/a> Council development management committee granted permission by 9-0 votes for a change of use of the ex-Cineworld<\/a> in Riverside Retail Park, which shut last October, to a supermarket.<\/p>\n A total of 314 residents objected, along with Yate Town Council, but these were outnumbered by the 397 letters of support from locals.<\/p>\n Shopping centre bosses tried to find an alternative cinema chain to take over when it became clear it would have to close but could not find one and there was no interest from any other leisure operators, the meeting was told on Thursday, May 15.<\/p>\n Cabinet member for planning, regeneration and infrastructure Cllr Chris Willmore (Lib Dem, Yate North), a non-voting member of the committee, said: \u201cOur choice today is either an empty building left crumbling away that will become a haven to vandals and crime \u2013 or Aldi<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cEmpty, boarded-up sites in town centres breed more empty sites \u2013 town centres decay bit by bit.<\/p>\n Sign up to receive daily news updates and breaking news alerts straight to your inbox for free <\/strong>here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe shopping centre owners have worked tirelessly to keep shops open so we have the busy town centre we want.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a community we need that site in use helping our town centre thrive.<\/p>\n \u201cLeave this empty and one by one all the rest of Riverside will struggle, but if Aldi goes ahead, it will help all the other shops, and that will help our town centre.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not what we want but it\u2019s the only option other than decay and dereliction.\u201d<\/p>\n Cllr Willmore, who called-in the application<\/a> to the committee, said she did not object to the plans but wanted the issues raised transparently in public.<\/p>\n She said her reasons for the call-in, such as the need to consider wildlife at an adjacent protected woodland, noise for neighbours, and safety concerns at a pedestrian bridge to the retail park and for children in the car park, had all been either addressed or would be agreed in further discussions between Aldi and council officers before the development could take place.<\/p>\n Cllr Liz Brennan (Conservative, Frenchay & Downend), who also called-in the application and did not object in principle, told the meeting: \u201cReplacing this facility with retail dilutes the original purpose of the development and the balance of uses in the town centre.<\/p>\n \u201cThe long-term consequences may be less vibrant, less inclusive and less diverse community space.<\/p>\n \u201cThe proposed change of use raises real concern about traffic flow, site access and parking pressures.<\/p>\n She said Aldi would attract a lot more cars than the cinema did and that more pressure would be placed on Riverside\u2019s free car park because of the introduction of charges at the council\u2019s car parks.<\/p>\n Cllr Brennan said: \u201cThis application represents a pivotal decision for Yate\u2019s future.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile the arrival of a new retailer might bring short-term gains, it\u2019s essential to weigh this against the long-term loss of community space and the impact on infrastructure and overall vision for Yate as a balanced, inclusive place to live.\u201d<\/p>\n Yate Shopping Centre and Yate Riverside manager Andy Lowrey told councillors: \u201cThese plans present a big opportunity to repurpose and reinvigorate a vacant unit.<\/p>\n \u201cI know residents are disappointed that Cineworld left last year.<\/p>\n \u201cA robust marketing exercise showed no viable interest from leisure operators.<\/p>\n \u201cWorking very closely with the cinema managers, they advised me that they just didn\u2019t see the numbers to support that cinema.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom what we heard from our customers, people were leaving Yate and driving to Longwell Green to use the Vue there because the prices were cheaper.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, the cinema was brand new, the owners of the site at the time spent over \u00a34million building the cinema, the owners then contributed \u00a31million to the fit-out.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately around two years prior to Cineworld\u2019s closure we watched in America as they hit troubles there and we were very aware that at some point the cinema would close.<\/p>\n \u201cIn that time we worked very hard to try to attract a different cinema operator to the town or an alternative leisure use.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfrotunately that wasn\u2019t viable.<\/p>\n \u201cWith there being no chance of a cinema returning to Yate, the choice is for the unit to remain empty or to bring more footfall to the town, more investment with an award-winning and popular investor.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving the new store will help us keep more customers in Yate.\u201d<\/p>\n Principal planning officer Suzanne D’Arcy, who recommended approval, said the developers intended to extend security railings to make the pedestrian bridge safer and that a condition had been agreed to protect the nearby nature reserve.<\/p>\n She said other conditions would restrict the shop\u2019s floorspace to protect town centre stores and limit delivery hours.<\/p>\n Aldi is set to open early next year with the creation of up to 40 new jobs.<\/p>\n Try BristolLive Premium for FREE without intrusive ads and brilliant new features<\/p>\n No intrusive adverts, pop-ups or distractions! 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More info here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Gloucestershire councillors heard the alternative was ‘decay and dereliction’How the Aldi at Riverside Retail Park in Yate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[1796,381,748,527,393,4884,11518,12717,285,10299,10302,16,15,14915],"class_list":{"0":"post-107133","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-aldi","9":"tag-bristol","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-conservative-party","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-liberal-democrats","15":"tag-planning","16":"tag-politics","17":"tag-south-gloucestershire","18":"tag-south-gloucestershire-council","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom","21":"tag-yate"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114519304158553880","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}