The county councillors for the ward where Aldi wants to build a £7m supermarket in Llanelli have given a cautious welcome to the plans — while making clear that managing the impact on an already congested Sandy Road must be a condition of any planning approval.
Aldi is consulting on proposals to demolish the Pinopolis entertainment centre on Sandy Road and replace it with a new store — the German discounter’s first on the western side of Llanelli.
Pinopolis only opened three years ago. Under Aldi’s proposals, the entire site would be cleared and replaced with a single-storey supermarket with 100 car parking spaces, creating around 40 jobs once open.
Hengoed ward councillors Martyn Palfreman and Edward Skinner both acknowledged the potential benefits, with Cllr Palfreman saying a store of this scale would be genuinely useful for residents across a wide area.
“A supermarket on this scale on the western side of Llanelli would undoubtedly be convenient for people in this part of the town and those living in Burry Port, Pembrey and beyond, and that is to be welcomed,” he said.
Cllr Skinner highlighted the employment opportunities. “The opportunities in terms of jobs, both during the construction phase and once the store is open, are considerable,” he said.
However, both councillors stressed that traffic management on Sandy Road could not be an afterthought. The road already carries significant volumes of traffic and the addition of a major supermarket would increase pressure on the junction considerably.
The traffic concerns are not new. Sandy Road has been one of Llanelli’s most persistent congestion blackspots for years — with the junction at Maes-y-Coed only recently upgraded after a long campaign by local councillors. New traffic lights went live in September 2025, though residents warned at the time the scheme did not go far enough.
Early signs suggested the changes were helping — but Cllr Palfreman and Cllr Skinner had always made clear the September improvements were only the beginning, not the end, of what Sandy Road needed.
Cllr Palfreman said that position had not changed. “We fought hard for the improvements to the Sandy lights last year but we have always been clear that these need to form part of a wider scheme to reduce congestion along this stretch of Sandy Road,” he said.
“Permission for this new development must be conditional on further improvements being in place to manage the already large traffic volumes in the area,” he added.
Both councillors are meeting with Aldi managers this week to discuss the proposals directly, and have urged residents to give their views before the consultation closes.
The consultation is open until 11 June. Details are available at Llanelli library and online at aldiconsultation.co.uk/llanelli.
