New Aldi ‘still a threat to Keynsham town centre’

CONCERNS about the effect of a new Aldi store in Keynsham on Tesco and the town centre have been re-stated in a new report.

The supermarket chain wants to build a store on a site between the A4 Bath Road and World’s End Lane.

Its planning application will be decided by Bath & North East Somerset Council, which has commissioned a fresh report from Nexus Planning on the likely effect of a new Aldi store.

Previous Nexus reports – in August 2024 and January 2025 – had concluded that the proposed Aldi store would have a “significant adverse impact” on the town centre.”

Its latest report is in response to a study – commissioned by Aldi from commercial property agent Avison Young – that concluded that the town centre was in fact thriving and there was no reason to be concerned about Tesco’s viability.

Avison Young’s report drew on a survey of household shopping patterns conducted last summer. It included information on where people living in and around Keynsham did their main food shopping and top-up trips, and linked trips they made during these visits.

Nexus Planning said it was unclear why Avison Young had included the west of Keynsham in the same zone as a large part of south-east Bristol, and that this had led to “misleading results” in its financial assessment.

It also says Avison Young’s forecast that about one third of Aldi’s convenience goods turnover would be diverted from Tesco was an under-estimate.

“The Tesco store is the main competitor for the proposed Aldi store and will be susceptible to the transfer of both main and top-up food shopping trips.

“Indeed, the proposed Aldi store will replace Tesco as the main grocery shopping destination for many residents of the Keynsham catchment.”

Regarding linked trips, Nexus Planning noted that Avison Young’s household survey showed that about one fifth of main food shoppers at Tesco linked their trip with the town centre, with the equivalent figure for top-up shoppers being less than a third.

“It is clear to us that, based upon the applicant’s survey, a transferral of grocery spending from the town centre to an out-of-town location in Keynsham will have a material adverse impact upon linked trips to the town centre.

“This has the potential to have an adverse impact upon existing investment in the centre through the loss of business and stakeholder confidence.”

Nexus Planning says that Avison Young’s use of a new household survey provides a significantly different turnover for the Tesco store, which raises questions about the reliability of the market share data. Therefore, more information is needed from Avison Young and Aldi before it can reach a final conclusion, it said.

Since Aldi submitted its original planning application in May 2024, B&NES Council’s expected decision date has been repeatedly pushed back, and a new one has yet to be announced.