March/April 2022
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News
Trees felled around site of new Aldi & Costa Work set to start soon on land behind Sainsbury’s
T
he wholesale felling of trees around a large parcel of vacant land behind the Sainsbury’s store in Stoke Gifford has exposed the site of new mixed-use development that will include an Aldi supermarket, a Costa drive-through, a Premier Inn hotel and a Beefeater restaurant. The approved plans also include a multi-use building, which does not currently have any pre-lettings. This building will most likely be constructed in a later phase, with its footprint initially being occupied by an interim ‘pocket park’. Planning permission for the scheme was granted in April 2021, when applicant Baylis Estates Ltd said it expected to complete the project in “early 2023”. Little happened at the site through the remainder of 2021, baring some minor site clearance and a beefing up of the entrance following a traveller incursion. In the background, planning applications have been submitted and approved for signage associated with the Costa drivethrough, Premier Inn hotel and Beefeater restaurant. The silence at the site was broken by the sound of chainsaws in the first week of 2022, when the vast majority of the trees surrounding the 1.8-hectare site
were felled. The very few trees that remain are, it is assumed, the “better-quality mature” ones defined in the approved plans as being worthy of saving. Some new tree planting will eventually be implemented along the site’s boundary with Great Stoke Way. Vehicles will enter and leave the site via a single access point off Fox Den Road, close to the Sainsbury’s delivery yard (on the right when driving on the access road into Sainsbury’s). The development will provide 240 car parking bays, including 16 disabled spaces, 9 parent and child spaces and 10 electric vehicle spaces (complete with charging points). There will also be 40 covered and 52 uncovered cycle parking spaces. The approved scheme incorporates five new pedestrian access points into the site, with three defined routes through it. To further improve accessibility, the applicant has agreed to fund improvements to an existing informal pedestrian crossing on Great Stoke Way, close to the Aviva roundabout. A previous statement by Baylis Estates Ltd said it hoped to begin construction at the site in 2021, but the developer’s website is currently showing a date of “Q2 2022”.
Tree felling in progress at the Fox Den Road site in early January
The cleared site in March: Just a handful of mature trees have been spared
Aerial view of phase 1, showing ‘pocket park’ between the hotel (left) and Aldi
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