TO build a supermarket on the New Mills Industrial Estate, as it hopes to, Aldi will first have to look into the possibility of building a supermarket closer to the town centre, at Lawnside.

An Aldi spokesman revealed this week that such an assessment would be an essential part of the planning process.

The Herefordshire councillor for Ledbury, Cllr Liz Harvey, said that Aldi's assessment of the Lawnside site would need to the "thorough", if they hope to get permission for a new supermarket in town.

Under so-called "sequential testing", part of the planning process, any sites closer to the town centre must be looked at in detail for suitability, and Lawnside Road is closer to the town centre than the New Mills Industrial Estate.

An Aldi spokesperson said this week: “A detailed sequential retail assessment will be undertaken as part of the planning application process to assess the suitability of sites within Ledbury. This will include the Lawnside site to form what will be a robust assessment.”

The spokesman added “The consultation deadline for our proposals has now passed. In addition to preparing detailed technical reports, we are busy analysing the hundreds of responses received during the course of our consultation in order to take account of all the feedback provided. To date, approximately 90 per cent of feedback received has been in support of our proposals.

"We are extremely grateful for the time local people have taken to participate in the process and the support that we have received."

Cllr Harvey explained that sequential testing was "just a normal part of the planning process".

But she added: "Just like Tesco and Sainsbury's, the Aldi applicants will need to demonstrate why it isn't possible for them to locate the store on a site nearer to the town centre than the one further away than they propose.

"It depends what Aldi's requirements are whether any other sites provide viable alternatives."

Cllr Harvey added: "It's in their interests to do a thorough job of the testing though, as the Sainsbury and Tesco applications each had weak testing which undermined their respective cases when it came to determination."

A formal planning application for the New Mills site is still to be submitted by Aldi.

This week, the developer who first proposed building a superstore at Lawnside, Philip King of PLK Properties, said the idea of demolishing the swimming pool to build there had been set aside by his company.

He said: "We are no longer proposing a supermarket on the site of the swimming pool. The market changed significantly and Halo needed to get on with their refurbishment plans."

The pool, operated by Halo for Herefordshire Council, is to get a £2m makeover, probably in the next financial year.

Mr King said of Aldi: "I have been aware of their plans for New Mills for some time."

When asked if PLK Properties still had plans for the Lawnside area, he said: "No comment. As a matter of principle any option that my company may or may not take out is bound by confidentiality."