MORE THAN 100 jobs will be created in Hattersley if plans for a new supermarket and business units are given the go ahead.
Aldi is looking to build a new store on land bordered by Stockport Road and Ashworth Lane, close to where Tesco stands.
And feedback from residents at a pre-planning consultation meeting has been favourable, with one local councillor also giving her backing.
Five acres of the redundant site, currently owned by Onward Homes and which has stood empty for 14 years, will be sold to developers Maple Grove, who have drawn up their vision.
As well as the Aldi store, eight employment units will be constructed, plus a Costa Coffee drive through facility, with the chance of further land being developed and a health centre being put in.
A total of 179 car parking spaces will also be included, 16 of which will be for electric vehicles with charging points.
And those behind the scheme, who feel investment will bring the site back to productive use and it will improve the general Hattersley area, will jot create a traffic bottleneck.
For access will be from Stockport Road, rather than Ashworth Lane, and a new crossing point will be included.
If everything goes well, it is hoped building will start in the spring of 2024 with a view to opening in the autumn of 2025.
And Longdendale councillor Jacqueline Owen, in whose ward the land lies, believes it will be positive.
She said: “My personal view is it will be a benefit to the community.
“People would have more choice of where to shop than they currently have. There will be job opportunities and the companies coming in would use local people.
“They actively encourage local people to work for them.
“And in terms of the site itself, finally it looks like we may be getting on with it. I’ve discussed traffic with the developers and they will be planting, surface water drainage works, there’ll be a pond, which will encourage bio-diversity.
“For local people, it means they could get their shopping without having to spend the £4 to get on the bus to Aldi in Hyde.
“People could walk here and do it for nothing. For a long time, they’ve said, ‘We don’t have anything. We’d like a corner shop, a florist, a bakery, but in today’s society, that doesn’t work.”