Opening date set for new Ramsgate Aldi

How the site with housing and Aldi could look Image On Architecture

Aldi will open its new store in Ramsgate on Thursday, December 2 at 8am.

The store on the old Boundary Road gas works site will replace the existing shop across the road. It will be run by store manager Darryn Stacey, along with a team of 32 colleagues from the community.

Darryn and his team will be joined by Team GB gold medallist Susannah Townsend to celebrate the store opening and cut the all-important ribbon on opening morning.

During the build  Photo Frank Leppard

Darryn said: “We can’t wait to open the doors to the new store in Ramsgate. It’s set to be a special day and having Olympic hero Susannah Townsend join us will make it a morning to remember.”

Hockey star Susannah Townsend added: “I’m so excited to be opening Aldi’s new store, it will be great to chat to customers and a lovely way for me to thank Aldi for its support of Team GB.”

Aldi has operated from the current site for some 20 years but the move means  an increased shop size and more parking spaces, going from 70 to 118, including 6 disabled spaces, 11 parent and child and 2 active electric vehicle charging spaces.

During the build Photo Frank Leppard

The development is on the eastern side of the former gasworks site and excludes the listed building.

Redevelopment of the western part of the former gasworks site is being carried out by Thanet-based Blueberry Development Estates to create 58 flats in three new build blocks and 15 in a conversion of the listed gas works office building fronting Boundary Road.

Aldi is calling on local charities and food banks in Ramsgate to register with Neighbourly, a community engagement platform that links businesses to charitable organisations in the community.

Local charities that register will be able to collect surplus food and perishable products, such as fruit, vegetables and baked goods, up to seven days a week. Any charities in the area that would like to partner up with the new Aldi store should email [email protected].

The new store will be open: Monday – Saturday: 8am – 10pm, Sunday: 10am – 4pm

The gasworks

The gasworks were built in 1824 and had six gasholders. Originally it was on the other side of Boundary Road, where Aldi now is, then operated on both sides before being completely moved to the site were the red brick office and clock still stands.

It was taken on by the Local Board in 1877.The local Board and later Ramsgate Corporation ran the site until 1949.

The gas office and depot site in Boundary Road Photo from archives of Mike Nichols

On nationalisation in 1949 the undertaking became part of the Thanet Group of the Kent County Division of SEGB. Gas manufacture ceased at Ramsgate works in 1958 and the site became a holder station.

The offices, railed area, depot, adjoining walls and gate for the gasworks in Boundary Road are grade II listed.

During World War One, in November 1917, two bombs hit the gas works, falling between the gas holders and the rear of the office.

The site was bombed again during World War Two, in August 1940, when eight members of staff were lucky enough to survive after taking refuge in an Anderson shelter at the rear of the offices.

Photo by Mike Nichols

In 2007 and application was made to create 96 homes on the site. Some decontamination work took place but then stopped. Demolition and remediation works then took place in 2010 but work stopped until Blueberry Homes started the development.

13 Comments

  1. It’s a shame there are just 2 electric charging points. We need more to be required on these developments if we are going to stand a chance of having capacity to encourage people to switch. Ramsgate has so many terraced houses where charging at home is impractical. Looking forward to seeing the new store though.

    • I’m all for encouraging people to move to electric vehicles but can’t always understand the drive for shops etc to install charging points.

      Given Aldi’s target customers would probably live within a 2 or 3 mile radius their round journey would be around 4 to 6 miles. The range on most electric cars will be at least 150 miles and you are likely to be in Aldi for half an hour at most (especially given how quick their checkout operators get you through !) So, I can’t see the gain for Aldi to have the charging points and certainly can’t see why people would need to charge their cars there in any case.

      • Rapid charging is getting quicker currently 20-40 minutes and trials on a 10 minute charge for 250 miles is in progress. People are still driving to the store otherwise there wouldn’t be many so seems a good idea to incorporate more capacity, especially on new builds as demand is only going to grow. Plus it reduces the need for the waste of resources to dig up the parking area again when more demand kicks in. Plus we all plan to pop in for random items but that middle aisle always is a time stealer!

        • Given the margins Aldi work on, i really can’t see them installing especially fast chargers, its little more than a tick box gimmick, they won’t be giving away much free electric and if they do it’ll only be subsidised by the other customers.

    • If only electric cars were the answer which they arent. It’s a myth about electric cars, the batteries last 12yrs if lucky, cant be recycled and will burn for years if they catch alight.
      hydrogen cars the way to go.

  2. Good news.

    I hope the ventilation system uses outdoor air and is Covid-19 preventative.
    That would make a huge difference to many people who stopped shopping at Aldi because of the limited circulation space.

  3. The Germans bombed this site in both the 1st and 2nd world wars. Talk about long term planning for clearing a site for a new store!

  4. There’s a thing A Waitrose and a new larger Aldi what could be better for Ramsgate. Is great that this former derelict site is now refurbished with useful commercial services and the listed gas works offices will be refurbished for use as apartments.

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