New Aldi approved for Bromley despite residents’ concerns over pollution

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

Plans for a new Aldi have been approved, despite residents claiming nearby homes will be “suffocated” in car emissions.

Bromley council has approved plans for the new store in Farnborough Way, Orpington.

It will be open from 8am until 10pm from Monday to Saturday and from 10am until 4pm on Sundays.

The site will also include parking spaces for 47 cars and 33 bicycles. The application received 218 objections online from residents, alongside 233 comments of support.

The plans were discussed at a development control committee meeting for Bromley council on Thursday.

Ann Francis, vice chairwoman of the Farnborough Village Society, said at the meeting that she was representing hundreds of residents, and that the new supermarket would jeopardise the future of the village.

She said that the store would turn the area into a shopping destination and cause thousands of drivers to rely on the area’s already strained infrastructure.

Ms Francis said at the meeting: “The proposed buildings and car park are right on the boundary of homes and gardens and will visually overwhelm them, immerse them in continual noise and suffocate them in car emissions for lengthy periods every single day. There will be no respite.”

Richard Khodabakhsh, property director for Aldi stores, said at the meeting that concerns on the light and noise impact from the store had been assessed as being acceptable by officers.

The development control committee approved the plans for the new supermarket in a 9-6 vote.