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June 2001 Update

Aldi Makes Another Planning Application

Mrs Hanna, the PTA Secretary, and Mr Fitzsimmons, the School Board Chair, both checked with South Ayrshire Council at various times since the end of January 2001. The Council said that this proposal was still "in the application stage". Parks' Garage, on the site next door to the school, has now closed for business. We wondered in our last issue if there was a risk of activity during the school's summer holidays while everyone is away?

Well, perhaps unsurprisingly, a second application by Aldi was advertised discreetly in the local press at the end of May. No-one communicated this to the school.

The Council's planning officer tells Mr Fitzsimmons that Aldi have been "very slow" in sending in documents, and "won't be able to have their application processed in June". There will, of course, be another meeting in July, during the school's summer holiday.

The new application shows a plan which now includes the school - it was missed out of the last plan - and there are now some bushes along the front of the store to make it look nice. Since Holmston School is a "listed" building because of its traditional architecture, Aldi are having to apply again, though conveniently at a quiet time of year and without the hosts of objections sent in by parents and local residents last time around. 123 parents objected and local residents organised their own campaign with many objections.

Aldi first advertised an application in September 2000. After prompting from Holmston's School Board, the then Head of the Council's Education Service wrote to the School Board in late November 2000 to say that he would communicate with the Planning Department about Aldi's application, following "agreed procedures". The Council is probably in a difficult position since it has to consider all applications impartially, as planning authority. The earlier lack of information did cause concern, however -

Parents at the school were concerned to hear at the beginning of September, that a planning application had been made by Aldi Ltd to erect a Retail Foodstore (supermarket) on the site of Park Group's garage next door to the school.

They were also astonished to hear about it from people who lived in Ashgrove Street, who had been legally notified. No-one had told the school about this, though a letter was apparently sent to Council offices.

The PTA distributed a questionnaire to parents asking for comments to be sent to them, for collection and passing on to the Council's planning department. The legal time-limit for comments expired over the Ayr holiday weekend. 123 objections were received, representing over 60% of the families using the school, and passed to the planning department before the time limit.

The School Board inspected the detailed application at the planning department, and registered their own objections with the planning department and with Educational Services.

Many parents and others living in the area are concerned about the impact on volume of traffic in the area's narrow Victorian streets and the busy single-carriageway A70 road on one side. Park's car sales business has been low-profile, without high-volume retail activity such as petrol sales.

The "Ayrshire Post" ran a news report on the application in September 2000, interviewing PTA committee members, Board members and other parents.

Planning applications by neighbours are a sensitive subject, whether or not they involve demolishing a low-rise car showroom and replacing it with a larger, busy, facility closer to the site of the school.

If Aldi do come to live next door, we have to hope they'll be good neighbours.

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