SUPERMARKET chain Aldi is hopeful a decision on its plans for a new store on a disused sweet factory site will be made "in the near future".

The German discount retailer table its second set of proposals to build on the former Parrs Confectionary plot in Poole back in August 2020.

A previous application for the land in Alder Road was refused by BCP Council's planning committee in November 2019.

Eighteen months on from submitting its fresh plan, Aldi is still waiting for a verdict from the local authority.

A spokesperson for Aldi said the company had been working with BCP Council officers for some time to try and bring forward a new community food store scheme.

"We have been overwhelmed by the support we have received from the local community and would like to express our sincere gratitude for those residents who have shown their support and taken the time to comment on the application’s planning file," the spokesperson said.

Bournemouth Echo: CGI of the proposed Aldi and coffee shop off Alder Road in PooleCGI of the proposed Aldi and coffee shop off Alder Road in Poole

“Our proposals would deliver a multi-million pound investment into Poole, creating up to 40 new full and part time jobs paid at an industry leading rate. The plans also offer a positive and viable opportunity to regenerate a key brownfield site, replacing a derelict and vacant building which has previously attracted anti-social behaviour.

“We will continue to work proactively with officers and stakeholders and are hopeful of a determination in the near future.”

More than 351 comments in support of the proposal have been submitted on the council's planning portal, with just 11 objections.

As reported, supermarket rival Lidl has filed an objection, stating Aldi had "underestimated" the impact the proposed supermarket would have on other stores.

The application site was allocated for care home use in the Poole Local Plan.

A non-care home use was one of the reasons why councillors decided to reject Aldi's first set of plans.

The applicant said a care home development was "unlikely to come forward", citing that planning permission for a 70-bed care home and 32 extra care apartments had now expired.

The supermarket's plans, which Aldi said would create 58 jobs, include a new coffee shop.

The site has disused since The Tangerine Sugar Confectionery factory shut in 2013 when manufacturing was moved across the country, with the loss of 75 full time jobs.

Bournemouth Echo: The site has been vacant since 2013The site has been vacant since 2013

Family firm Parrs started in Parr Street, Lower Parkstone, after World War Two and relocated to Alder Road in the late 1960s.

It became the world’s biggest manufacturer of lettered rock, employing more than 200 people, before the rock-making was sold to a company that ceased trading in 2007.

Aldi obtained planning permission in October 2020 to demolish the former confectionery factory buildings, which had been attracting anti-social behaviour for some time.