A NEW Aldi supermarket will be coming to the outskirts of Highbridge, despite objections from the town council and chamber of commerce who say it will damage the town centre.

The controversial plans were approved by Sedgemoor District Council's development committee meeting on Tuesday morning, and will see the 1,804 sq m store head to land off of Isleport Road.

Aldi says the store will provide 14 permanent and 26 part time jobs, has overwhelming public support and could act as a catalyst for future development in the area, but representatives for the town council and Burnham Chamber of Commerce spoke passionately against the development.

Alex Turco from Burnham and Highbridge Chamber of Commerce said: "A year ago, had Aldi wanted to open on the old Morrisons site in Burnham town centre, we would have been doing cartwheels down the high street.

"This objection is not about Aldi, it is about the location. We are concerned for the future of the town centre. In an age where it is easy for people to buy what they want, when they want, we need to be actively supporting town centres.

"Encouraging local people into the town centre should be a key goal for local authorities. Burnham town centre is one which you describe in your own local plan as being 'vulnerable'. Yet if Aldi takes 20 per cent of Lidl’s customers, that is thousands of people who will not be coming into the town centre."

Cllr Peter Burridge-Clayton spoke on behalf of Burnham and Highbridge Town Council and said he echoed many of Mr Turco's sentiment.

"We appreciate that many members of the public do want Aldi, but the location is the issue," he said.

"We are a tourist town, and if we lose shops we lose visitors, if we lose visitors we lose more shops and pretty soon the whole town centre will die."

Sedgemoor District Council's principle planning officer for the West encouraged the committee to approve the application saying it complied with national, regional and local planning policies and that Highways England had not objected.

She also said the development could as a gateway to the site for the growth of the earmarked Isleport Business Park.

In a survey carried out by Aldi in January found that 95 per cent of those surveyed said the new store would be an asset to the town, and the application received 45 letters of support from members of the public.

Cllr Andrew Gilling said he had found it quite startling that 'those who are supposed to representing the locals seem to be at odds with them'.

"I am supporting this application and think it is commendable," he said.

Cllr Janet Keen raised concerns about the space for HGVs to deliver and turnaround being tight and possibly dangerous but Cllr Gilling argued that with modern reversing cameras this should not be an issue and that Highways were not objecting to it.

The application was approved by eight votes to one.

Following the meeting resident Gaynor Brown told the Weekly News: "It is clear Sedgemoor District Council does not give a damn about Burnham and Highbridge."