A squeeze on Telford’s parking spaces
Aldi is proposing a change to its new Telford store’s car park, reigniting a debate over whether modern vehicles are simply too big for the spaces provided. The supermarket chain wants to reduce the overall number of spots from 126 to 116 but make each one wider, hoping to improve the experience for shoppers.
The plans for the seventh Aldi store in the area, to be built on the site of the former Shropshire Star offices off Holyhead Road in Ketley, have already been approved. However, the German supermarket giant has applied to Telford & Wrekin Council for “minor amendments” to the car park layout.
Agent Tom Clift of Avison Young said the company wants to increase the width of each individual space from 2.5 metres to 2.7 metres. The total number of accessible and parent and child spaces will remain the same.
In a letter to the council, the agent explained that the change is designed to “improve the overall experience of customers using the store.” They added, “It is emphasised that these changes are proposed purely to improve the experience of people visiting the food store via car and for pedestrians.”
The proposal is now in the hands of the council’s planning department. With vehicles generally getting larger, many people feel that parking bays have not kept up. This application asks the question: are standard car parking spaces simply too small for today’s cars?
Additional reporting from Andy Smith
