An Aldi supermarket will form part of a major local property development in Rye, it's been confirmed.
The German supermarket giant, along with Tunbridge Wells based property developer Decimus and retirement home developer McCarthy Stone, confirmed their participation on Monday.
If planning permission is granted, the Rye supermarket will be built on the John Jempson & Son road haulage yard site just west of Winchelsea Road, as part of a development that will also include retirement accommodation and new homes.
The development partners said: "The plans are at an early stage and the project team have recently sought advice from technical consultees. We are also in pre-application discussions with Rother District Council to agree a planning submission programme, which should be agreed shortly. A full public consultation will be undertaken in the new year."
The groundbreaking news follows years of speculation and rumour in the town, with many residents known to support the introduction of a supermarket able to compete with Jempson's Supermarkets, which has in effect had the local market to itself for many decades.
In an ironic twist, it should be noted that Jempson's Supermarkets is in no way commercially related to John Jempson & Son road transport, although the owning families are known to be distantly connected. Jonathan Jempson, the owner / chairman of the haulage firm, said in May that the age and condition of the existing buildings on the firm's site meant "they were coming to the end of their useful life and so redevelopment of the site is the only option".
The existing tenants, Rye Emporium, JHB Engineering and Richard Cullinan Joinery will have to move new premises, although according to one of the tenants this may not be until September next year.
The development site was identified as housing allocation site H6 and earmarked for a possible 20 dwellings in the Rye Neighbourhood Plan.
