Angelique Rutten collected 1,100 signatures to ensure that the Aldi supermarket on the Bitswijk in Uden-North would remain open. But in vain. The municipality of Maashorst, which Uden falls under, has accepted a decision by the Council of State. He ruled last week that the municipality had wrongly granted a permit for the store.
Angelique thinks it is important that the store remains open. “The closure of Aldi is especially a problem for the elderly. I was surprised at the enormous support for my action,” she says. The problem is that only a Jumbo supermarket remains in Uden-Noord. And many Aldi customers find these too expensive.
Comments left
Customers who went shopping at the store on Tuesday afternoon generally reacted resignedly: “Pity, because it is a nice store and nice and close”, is the most heard response. A few think it is downright bad that the municipality first gave permission for the shop and that it now, after a lot of legal effort, has to close again after a few years.
The municipality issued a permit for Aldi in 2017. That should not have been allowed, says the Council of State now. The permit is contrary to the zoning plan.
New permit
Aldi says in a response that it regrets the impending closure. With a new permit, the store in Uden-North can easily be legalized, the company says. The supermarket chain wants to open a new store on Vijverlaan in Uden-South before the end of the year.
The municipality of Maashorst cannot yet say whether there is still a chance that the store can remain open in one way or another. In the coming weeks, there will be consultations with various parties and stakeholders.