ALDI wins green light at Drysdale

Kim Waters
Revised plans for an ALDI supermarket at Drysdale have won council backing.
Councillors voted this week to support a planning scheme amendment allowing the budget supermarket chain to set up shop on Murradoc Road.
The revised plans move the store west to create space for extra parking and three shops.
The proposal now goes to an advisory committee under Planning Minister Justin Madden for approval.
ALDI’s major competition at Drysdale, Safeway, was confident it could compete with the German brand.
“We welcome competition and as such we welcome Aldi into the Drysdale community which we’ve been serving for over a decade now,” a Safeway spokesperson said.
A Drysdale Clifton Springs Community Association spokesperson expected ALDI to worsen traffic problems in the area.
“We share the community’s concerns about whether the supermarket site would include sufficient parking space for the traffic it would generate, whether that increased traffic would interfere with the flow of local traffic and, of course, whether it would pose any increased risks to people in the vicinity.”
Former ward councillor and spokesperson for new lobby group Bellarine Futures, Tom O’Connor, supported the development.
“ALDI has a 1600-square-metre footprint with 139 car parks, which is more than any car parking space we have at the moment and definitely more than Safeway,” Mr O’Connor said.
He welcomed the proposal for additional shops on the site.
“The community is currently lacking in variety, high-order shopping and quality. We need people to shop in Drysdale and not disappear out of town,” he said.
Mr O’Connor believed the community would also benefit from competition between supermarkets.