A NEW Aldi could be built where a car park currently stands in Derby city centre, creating 40 jobs.
The premises could be built by the end of next year if the budget supermarket giant gets permission for its multi-million-pound plans from the city council.
And businesses in the area have welcomed the move – saying they expect an increase footfall and trade.
Part of the site, which has been owned by Wheatcroft Land, a property development and investment company, since 2000, is now Burton Road Car Park, while the rest is overgrown scrubland.
In 2000, Aldi had suggested it was planning to develop the site, which used to be owned by Mackworth College. But it pulled out of the deal.
In 2002, planning permission was granted on the site for a mixed-use retail and leisure development; but this proposal was also not delivered.
Darren Gillen, of Kilkenny's Bell & Castle pub, Burton Road, said: "I think it might mean more people coming to the pub.
"People shop, then they might want to drink and they eat."
And Tom Whiteley, manager of Derby Auto Repair and Clutch Centre, Mount Street, which also borders the site, said it could only be a good thing for the area.
He said: "It's been a wasteland for a long time. We could get more passing trade."
The development would also include the building of new retail units next to the supermarket, along with a 103-space car park.
An Aldi spokesman said: "Up to 40 jobs will be created. These would be a mixture of full-time and part-time but Aldi guarantees minimum 25-hour contracts. We don't do zero hour.
"This proposal provides an excellent opportunity for a multi-million regeneration of the area.
"Whilst the previous permission was not realised, the site remains a strategically important and prominent development site on a key route into the city centre.
"The regeneration of the site with a mix of retail uses will deliver complementary goods and services and will enhance Normanton Road's existing retail offer."
The planning application says that access to the site would be via both Burton Road and Normanton Road.
Pedestrians will be able to get to the store via Burton Road and Mount Street.
Aldi is rapidly increasing its number of stores in Derby. It already has three stores in the city.
In July, planning permission was granted for a store on overgrown land at the corner of Harvey Road and Coleman Street, Alvaston.
That is expected to open in December and will create 29 jobs, 12 of them full-time.
It wants that store to be open from 8am to 9pm, Monday to Saturday, and 10am to 4pm on Sundays.
A decision on whether the plan gets the go-ahead is expected from the city council on the new Aldi application by December 15.
