PLANS for a new Aldi in Royal Wootton Bassett have been given the green light.

Permission was granted by Wiltshire Council for a change of use of the site on the Swindon Road that once housed the Grange Land Rover showroom, which closed this year.

The news was welcomed by residents and those on the council, which is fighting an appeal for a Lidl store and housing to be built at Marsh Farm on the other side of the Coped Hall roundabout.

Mollie Groom, Wiltshire councillor for Royal Wootton Bassett East, said: “We’re all delighted. It was important that such a supermarket should be within the boundary of RWB.”

Town councillor Mary Champion said: “It’s going on a site that’s already being built on, so we’re not putting it on green fields. I’m very much in favour of the Aldi, but not the Lidl.

“We definitely need another supermarket, it will be great. But to have two of them right next to each other will be a bit ridiculous.”

The plans show the store covering 1,631 sq m, which will also keep the original building size and retain 143 car parking spaces.

Currently the nearest large supermarkets are the Waitrose on the Wichelstowe development in Swindon, Asda in West Swindon and Sainsbury’s in Borough Fields.

There was speculation online that the approved Aldi plans could mean a stronger case for rejecting the Marsh Farm development.

Local resident Joy Mason wrote on Facebook: “Hopefully means Lidl application will be rejected now.”

The plans for a Lidl on Marsh Farm, which includes a care home and more than 200 houses, are currently going through the appeal process after they were rejected by Wiltshire Council planners earlier this year.

Critics of the controversial scheme argue it will ruin the registered local nature reserve around Jubilee Lake and put extra pressure on the already busy main roads connecting the town to Swindon.

Leda Properties, the company that submitted the Marsh Farm application, objected to the Aldi plans, arguing the council had not properly assessed other out of town centre locations for it.

Resident Alison Bucknell said: “The granting of the Aldi application does not necessarily mean the Lidl will be refused. Each application will be seen on its own merits.”

Revised plans for Marsh Farm will be debated at a hearing before a planning inspector on December 4. The session at the council’s Chippenham offices is in public.