The German supermarket giants are clashing over a plan to turn a defunct DIY store into an Aldi in Bracknell.
German supermarket rivals Aldi and Lidl are clashing over plans to turn the derelict Homebase on Western Road, Bracknell, into an Aldi.
The Homebase DIY and gardening store has been closed since March 2025. The site was once the headquarters of Clifford's Dairies, which shut in 1993, before being redeveloped as Homebase.
Drone photos by Binfield pilot StylesViews show the building boarded up, with smashed glass, graffiti and other vandalism.
Aldi has applied to split the warehouse unit into two, with one unit to become a supermarket. But Lidl has objected.
Christopher Tookey, director of Carney Sweeney, planning agents appointed by Lidl, wrote: “The Homebase site is out-of-centre in policy terms, and Lidl are concerned with Aldi’s proposal to trade from it as they themselves are moving forward with proposals for a Limited Assortment Discount (LAD) store on a sequentially superior site within Bracknell.”
However, no planning application from Lidl could be found on the council’s portal.
Tookey also argues current rules restrict the Homebase site from food sales and says turning part of it into a supermarket would be a material change of use, despite Aldi seeking a revision of a 1994 planning condition.
Five neighbours have backed the Aldi plan. Caroline James of Anneford Place said: “It would be beneficial to have an Aldi on this side of the town.
“It would relieve parking issues at the other Aldi site and reduce carbon emissions, as this would be close enough to walk to for many residents on this side of the town.”
You can view the application to divide the Homebase (reference 25/00535/NMA) on Bracknell Forest Council’s planning portal.
Aldi already has a store at Liscombe in Birch Hill. There is currently no Lidl in Bracknell; the nearest Lidl stores are in Crowthorne High Street and Molly Millars Lane, Wokingham.
James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter
