Aldi in Moate on track to open in coming months

Significant progress is being made on the construction of the new Aldi store in Moate, which is set to open in the coming months.

Work on building the supermarket on the Athlone Road approach to Moate began earlier this year, and there are indications locally that it could be ready for opening as soon as late October.

When contacted by the Westmeath Independent, an Aldi spokesperson declined to give a date for the opening, other than to confirm the store should be up and running this year.

"We're excited that construction is progressing for our new store in Moate," an Aldi spokesperson commented.

"We plan to open the store later this year and are looking forward to sharing in due course updates and full details, including the number of jobs the new store will create."

Recruitment for jobs in the Moate branch has already begun, with the first store assistant positions advertised online last month.

The single-storey supermarket is being built on the site where a dance hall - the Roseland ballroom - stood in previous decades. The store is due to include provision for 117 car parking spaces and 20 bicycle spaces.

Its arrival has been long-awaited in Moate, with planning permission for the development granted by Westmeath County Council close to three years ago, in November 2023.

According to the planning application, the development was expected to generate 30 permanent jobs when the store is operational, along with 50 jobs during the construction phase.

The Aldi foodstore and car park is to have a gross floor area of 1,818 square metres, which includes a net retail area of 1,316 square metres.

In a report prepared during the planning application stage, a council planner noted the store would be located on what was "currently a vacant underutilised site", and that the Aldi development would "bring life and vitality to this end of the town, provide passive surveillance, and an attractive new civic space to the front of the store".

The proposed opening hours of the store, according to the planning application, are from 8am to 10pm, Monday to Saturday, and from 9am to 9pm on Sundays and public holidays. Deliveries to the site are due to take place between the hours of 7am and 11pm.

Planning permission for the store was granted by the local authority, subject to 15 conditions, on November 22, 2023.

The conditions included that Aldi must pay a development contribution to the council of €47,286 prior to the start of construction work.

The first digger at the site was seen in January of this year, while construction work got fully underway in March.