Aldi may have finally got its wish of building a new store in Ceredigion, as council planners recommend approval for a plan to build a larger store in Cardigan after schemes in Aberystwyth and Lampeter were turned down.

Members of the council’s development management committee have been recommended to approve plans to build the new store on Bath House Road when they meet on 13 August.

The new store would see a £7 million investment in the local economy and create 10 new jobs, along with securing the current 39 jobs at the Cardigan store.

The recommendation to approve comes after the Welsh Government scuppered the discount supermarket’s plans to build a store on the former Kwik Save and Cambrian Garage site along Park Avenue in Aberystwyth which were given the green light by Ceredigion County Council in 2019.

Those plans were called in by the Welsh Government, who then rejected it in 2022 over flood concerns.

In March this year, plans by Aldi to build a store in Lampeter were turned down by Ceredigion County Council, after planners said the town did not need another supermarket.

First submitted in 2021, the rejection was the latest in a series of frustrations in bringing stores to Ceredigion for Aldi.

The plans for Cardigan will see Aldi leave its current Aberystwyth Road store when the new one is built.

Aldi said that the “existing Aberystwyth Road store is very popular with residents and as a result is unable to meet local demand, both with the store and car park capacity” but there is “no room to expand our offering in its current location and as such, we are proposing a new, larger store, that better meets the needs of the community.”

“Our exiting store would continue to trade until our new store off Bath House Road is open,” Aldi said.

“Aldi would also transfer all employees from the existing store, as well as creating further employment during the construction phase and via the supply chain.

“The proposal site currently has planning permission for a Home Bargains store, which is currently being constructed.

“If approved these proposals would further develop the site with a new Aldi food store and additional parking.”

Cardigan Town Council had no objections to the scheme but asked that a “bus stop be installed outside the stores to enable all residents to access the shops.”

Council planning officers, in a report recommending the plans for approval, said that “the application is driven by Aldi’s operational need to relocate from a constrained out-of-centre site to a more accessible edge of-centre location.”

“Aldi’s commitment to remain in Cardigan and invest in a larger, modern store is stated to be a demonstration of both market demand and investor confidence.

“The proposal is not expected to have a harmful retail impact and instead is likely to generate positive effects by improving accessibility, supporting local economic activity, and encouraging more sustainable consumer behaviour with the relocation of a major retailer to a more centralised location.”