'It would be out of character': Aldi told it cannot change the design of its new supermarket in village near Dudley
Supermarket giant Aldi has been refused permission to make a late design change to it's soon-to-open store in the Black Country.
Work is well underway on the chain's new branch in Zoar Street an d Abbey Street, Gornal Wood, two years after it was controversially given planning permission, despite hundreds of objections.
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But the German retailer submitted a request to amend the outwards appearance of the building, asking to use black cladding rather than brick facing on the frontage.
However, the change - one of three amendments the retailer has submitted - has been rejected by Dudley Council planners, who say it will have a detrimental appearance on the area.
The supermarket giant was given permission to build the new store, on a site partially occupied by Eggington's chemist shop, in June, 2023.
Eggington's had been in the village since 1912, and was thought to have occupied the present site since the 1930s.
Michael Brereton, director of development and regulation at Dudley Council, said the authority's policy was to ensure that all development aimed to protect and promote the special qualities, historic character and local distinctiveness of the Black Country in order to help maintain its cultural identity and strong sense of place.
Mr Brereton said the new shop was located is within an 'area of high historic townscape value' which required the development to be especially sympathetic to its surrounding.
"It is considered that changing the eastern elevation from brick to a form of cladding would be detrimental to this character," he said..
He said government planning guidelines also said local authorities had a responsibility to adhere to the conditions laid out, not to relax them once permission had been given.
The council had allowed a previous amendment to the design of the front door and canopy of the replacement chemist's shop on the site. A third amendment, to reduce the number of car-parking spaces from 120 to 107, and to make alterations to access and lighting, are still to be considered.
The original plans were approved despite attracting 254 individual letters of objection, as well as a 220-name petition opposed to the plans. The authority received a further 49 letters in favour of the proposals.
