Aldi excited to submit plans for new store in Haywards Heath to provide ‘high-quality, low- cost food’

Aldi Stores has applied to Mid Sussex District Council, via the agent Avison Young, to demolish the existing buildings at Sussex House on Perrymount Road.

They plan to replace the office block with a Class E(a) food store with access, car and cycle parking, landscaping and associated works. People can see the application at pa.midsussex.gov.uk/online-applications using the reference DM/24/3077.

Aldi said they are excited to have submitted the application, adding that the proposed store aims to improve access to ‘Aldi’s award-winning range of high-quality, low-cost food for people in Haywards Heath and the surrounding area’.

Rob McClellan, Aldi real estate director, said: “We are very pleased to have submitted the planning application for a new Aldi store in Haywards Heath. During our consultation in November we received 365 responses, with 79 percent of respondents feeling that a new Aldi store would benefit the local area. We are delighted with the support shown so far and are committed to continued engagement with the local community and the council. We are hopeful of a decision on planning permission later this year.”

The design and access statement said: “The aim of the proposed development is to provide the existing local community with a local amenity and increased customer retail choice, whilst ensuring the enhancement of the built environment and soft landscaping.”

Hornbeam Properties previously applied to convert Sussex House into 20 flats in May 2024 (DM/24/1111) but the application was refused.

Aldi’s plan includes a proposal for 97 car parking spaces, which will be 56 fewer spaces than are at the site now, as well as 30 cycle spaces.

The design and access statement said the site is about 450m from the town centre and in ‘a highly accessible location’ close to existing amenities and residential areas. It said there is good pedestrian access and vehicular access from Perrymount Road.

The statement said: “The site is also served by existing public transport networks, with bus stops, taxi rack and railway station adjacent to the site.”

It continued: “The landscape design proposals have been developed to create a pleasant landscape setting to compliment the proposed architecture and effectively integrate the development within its contexts.”

It said: “Where possible the existing trees and vegetation to the site boundaries is to be retained to minimise disturbance to the established habitats, maintaining the boundary treatment and screening it offers. Additional landscaping consisting of tree and mixed species native buffer planting within grassland is proposed to the North and Eastern boundaries to enhance the existing habitat, provide increased canopy and screening of the development.”

It added: “Areas of proposed native planting to the Eastern boundary will develop to provide scrub habitat, adding to the wooded character of the rear of the site. This area will provide valuable habitat for birds, small mammals and invertebrates.”

The design and access statement said the proposal aims ‘to be beneficial to the public realm and the wider community’. It said: “The scheme redevelops the site which is currently occupied by piecemeal development of underutilised offices and small retail units. The overall site design, with its cohesive landscaping, reduced the impact of the building on the Heath Area of the Conservation Area with the reduction in height of the building on the site and boosting of landscaping on the eastern boundary.”

It said the materials on the store’s exterior and hard landscaping are ‘contemporary, high quality, long lasting and low maintenance’, which means ‘the building will look as smart many years after opening as it does on day one’.

Aldi said Mid Sussex District Council will now carry a consultation on the plans before making a decision on whether to grant planning permission. Visit aldiconsultation.co.uk/haywardsheath.