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Fears a new Aldi car park will become an overflow for a packed-out David Lloyd gym have been raised as highways chiefs demand more spaces at the proposed supermarket.
Kent County Council (KCC) says the German retailer’s planned 122-space car park at Altira Park in Herne Bay is inadequate for a store of the desired size and wants at least 16 extra bays added.
How the proposed new Aldi store at Altira Park in Herne Bay could look. Picture: Aldi
But gym users believe the situation will be even worse than the authority predicts if the new supermarket opens next door to the oversubscribed David Lloyd Leisure club.
Members claim the £174-a-month gym’s car park is regularly overflowing, with drivers circling for spaces, parking on verges and occupying disabled and electric vehicle bays.
Some are even resorting to using the nearby Sainsbury’s car park instead.
Now there are fears Aldi’s car park could become the latest unofficial overspill area for leisure club members because it would sit even closer to David Lloyd than Sainsbury’s.
One gym-goer, who asked not to be named for fear of affecting his membership, said: “Parking is an absolute nightmare if you want to go after work or at the weekend.
“There are often no spaces at all, so people just park on the verges or use the electric vehicle or disabled spots.
Members of David Lloyd in Herne Bay say parking at the site is ‘an absolute joke’, with cars left anywhere they will fit
“Others park over the road in Sainsbury’s, but they’ll just start using the new Aldi when that opens, as it’ll be closer.
“If KCC are already saying Aldi’s car park is going to be too small, and they haven’t factored in the issues at David Lloyd, they might have to redo their calculations.
“You’ll have people parking at Sainsbury’s to do their shopping at Aldi and a workout at David Lloyd.”
While not mentioning David Lloyd in its submission to Canterbury City Council planners, KCC Highways has raised concerns about the impact of “linked trips” between nearby businesses.
“Given the proximity of the Aldi store to Sainsbury’s and the planned enhancements to pedestrian connectivity, it is likely that a proportion of users will make linked trips between destinations while remaining parked for longer periods,” it wrote.
Another David Lloyd member, Gary Mills, described the parking situation as “an absolute joke”.
“People driving round and round looking for spaces, cars parked literally everywhere even blocking the entrance,” he wrote on Facebook..
Members have also reported drivers without blue badges using disabled bays and non-electric vehicles occupying EV charging spaces.
Cars regularly park along the kerbside at David Lloyd in Herne Bay when spaces run out
Gym user Bethany Earl said the lack of parking is particularly difficult for disabled visitors.
“Able-bodied humans can park at Sainsbury’s and walk over,” she said.
“It’s a lot harder to do with my son’s chair. I tried to do so, but there is not a path that gets you wheelchair access to the club.”
David Lloyd, which opened in December, has proved so popular there is currently a waiting list for new memberships.
The club says it has already taken steps to try and ease pressure on the car park, including asking staff to use public transport or off-site parking and reviewing class schedules to reduce overlaps.
A spokesperson said: “We are committed to maintaining a strong relationship with our local community.
“Since opening in December, we have found members spending extended periods of time enjoying our facilities, which is having a greater impact on car park availability.
“We have taken various steps to manage car parking on site and we are continuing to monitor the parking patterns closely, as well as exploring further options for additional parking.”
A new Aldi store at Altira Park in Herne Bay could be built next to the recently opened David Lloyd Leisure club. Picture: Aldi
The proposed Aldi would become Herne Bay’s second branch alongside the existing Kings Road store and could create 40 jobs.
But the plans still require approval from KCC Highways.
As well as calling for more spaces, highways officials have also objected to the proposed size of the parking bays.
“When scaled from the submitted drawings, the standard parking bays appear to be approximately 2.45m wide,” the authority said.
“This falls below the minimum recommended bay width of 2.5m and will not be acceptable.”
Molly Tindall, a real estate manager at Aldi, said: “We are working carefully with all relevant consultees as our application is considered. We work hard to ensure that all our schemes have sufficient parking and we are happy with the numbers here, based on independent data assessments, our existing Herne Bay store and experience across our wider estate.”
“An additional Aldi store for Herne Bay at Altira Business Park will represent an investment of £7m, create approximately 40 new local jobs – paid at an industry-leading rate, above the National Living Wage – and improve access to Aldi’s award-winning range of high-quality food at the lowest possible prices.”