Green light as plans approved to expand a Fife Aldi store

The Queensway Industrial Estate grocer claimed that the Flemington Road branch is smaller than the average Aldi and needs the additional space for products.

“These proposals present a significant investment by Aldi and are a sign of their long-term commitment to the local area and further contribute to improving the quality and experience for shoppers in this part of Fife,” a planning statement said.

Aldi is well known as a “deep discount” grocers, offering exclusive own label groceries from a network of uniform stores.

It first entered the UK market in 1990 and has now expanded to over 880 stores across England, Scotland and Wales. Within Scotland, there are now 102 trading stores.

Developers say that the average Aldi store needs 1,105 square metres of sales space. The current Glenrothes store only has 964 sqm. At the expense of some car parking, the company asked the council for permission to expand the store by an additional 169 square metres overall.

“The proposals include the modest extension of the Aldi store to increase the sales floor space of the unit by 139 sq.m, the delivery of a new store entrance and customer facilities internally, alongside associated alterations to the car parking to accommodate these changes.” a planning statement explained.

The expansion will add the extra space that the company says is needed.

The store will lose seven parking spaces as a result of the expansion, but developers aren’t worried because Aldi Glenrothes customers will still benefit from the shared Queensway Industrial Estate car park.

In summary, developers said: “The development proposals represent a significant further investment in Glenrothes by Aldi, which will bring a much-improved offer for local residents, ensuring sustainable shopping provisions for residents within the Glenrothes area and further afield.”

The statement continued: “The nature and minor scale of the new retail offer proposed is intended to serve will not lead to any significant adverse impact on the vitality and viability of any protected centres within the catchment.”