The Council of State has allowed an Aldi supermarket to be built on Veldstraat in Deurne with 67 parking spaces. The reconstruction of the retail space may also be expanded by approximately 45 square meters. A big disappointment for local residents who tried to stop the arrival of an Aldi in their street, ‘but after almost 5 years there is now clarity.’
The local residents previously appealed to the East Brabant court, which ruled that the council of the municipality of Deurne should have granted the two environmental permits to Aldi. The local residents did not agree with this and also felt that it was an unsuitable location for a supermarket due to noise pollution and unsafe traffic conditions. That is why they went to the Council of State, but it has now also ruled that the two environmental permits were rightly granted to Aldi by the mayor and aldermen.
‘A number of things are not right’
“We still had hope that the Council of State would realize that a number of things were wrong, including the change from living to parking for Haageind 40 and that when a building is demolished you can no longer speak of reconstruction. That is just new construction,” says Theo Veltmans. He is one of the local residents who fought for years against a supermarket right on their doorstep: “This means seven days a week, from early in the morning to late at night, the sound of car doors opening and closing, shopping carts, glass bins and the trucks that come to load and unload.”
Veltmans, together with other local residents, attended the meeting of the Council of State in The Hague on August 15 last year. Prior to the hearing of the case, there were already plenty of rumors going around in the neighborhood that the building on Haageind, which had now come into the possession of Henk van der Steijn, had already been sold to Aldi. During the hearing it turned out that the German supermarket giant indeed already had a purchase agreement for the building at Haageind 40, with the aim of demolishing the house and creating 67 parking spaces there.
‘Municipality could refuse’
But because, according to Veltmans, Aldi was not yet the owner of that plot when the environmental permit was applied for, the municipality should never have granted that permit. “In the application, Aldi informed the municipality that it already owned Haageind 40, while this was not the case. That is a factual error, on the basis of which the municipality could have refused the permit at the time,” says Theo Veltmans.
Another point raised by local residents was that in the environmental permit granted, the term ‘reconstruction’ was interpreted quite broadly by the municipality. Veltmans explains: “In our view, reconstruction is building something similar again. So not a huge supermarket instead of a house and a flower shop. Reconstruction means that something will take its place that is the same in appearance and size.”
Another supermarket
However, Aldi is now going to be built after almost 5 years of struggle by local residents. In addition to the negative consequences for the enjoyment of life and the value of the houses of local residents, the arrival of another supermarket in Deurne could have much broader consequences, according to Veltmans: “In a study into how many supermarkets are desired per number of inhabitants, it turned out that there is actually half a supermarket too many in Deurne. What will this do to other stores such as an Albert Heijn on the Wolfsberg? Maybe that will soon disappear with the arrival of a supermarket on Veldstraat, which will not be happy with the shopkeepers in the center.”
Aldi also applied for a demolition permit for the house at Haageind 40 some time ago and has been busy with groundwork on the site and work in the buildings for several weeks. “I think Aldi has gambled on receiving that environmental permit at the same time as the Council of State’s ruling has now been issued,” concludes Theo Veltmans.
Photos: Dave van Hattem
Tags: Green light Aldi Deurne supermarket parking spaces built Veldstraat
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