Aldi Sheffield: Parking restrictions at Ecclesfield supermarket car park 'in line with planning conditions'

A 90-minute parking limit is being introduced at the supermarket on The Common in Ecclesfield, with the maximum stay being enforced by an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system which is being installed there.

Labour councillor Craig Gamble Pugh said some people had raised the issue with him after they saw the new cameras going up. When planning permission for the store was granted, the application had stated how the layout ‘ensures that the car park can function as a local centre car park encouraging linked trips to the other shops and services assisting the viability of the centre as a whole’.

Mr Gamble Pugh wrote to Sheffield Council’s planning department asking it to check whether any formal planning conditions had been imposed, given people recalled promises of the car park being made ‘freely available’ to residents. The council replied that the matter had been ‘registered as an enforcement case’, with a detailed response expected within 25 days.

Mr Gamble Pugh told The Star he had taken the matter up as there was a ‘massive problem with parking on our neighbourhood roads’. He said the parking issues were part of wider problems with roads in the area, which suffered from many drivers using the neighbourhood as a ‘rat run’.

An Aldi spokesperson told The Star: “Demand for Aldi has never been higher, and we are committed to meeting this by making it as easy as possible for customers to shop with us. The car park at our Ecclesfield store will have a 90-minute limit to ensure everyone who wishes to visit the store has the opportunity to do so.”

They added that the car park was primarily for Aldi customers but that it welcomed users who were visiting other local shops and amenities, which was ‘in line’ with the terms of the planning permission granted for the store.

The new time limit appears to have some support. Responding to Mr Gamble Pugh’s post about the subject, one person said trying to find a parking space could be a ‘nightmare’ for Aldi customers and another said 90 minutes should be ‘plenty’ of time to do your shopping.