Aldi and B&M could be open next summer
Developer Dearne Estates was granted planning permission for the shops on Wakefield Road, which could create 125 jobs.
Featherstone councillor Richard Taylor said: “It’s going to tidy up an otherwise grotty derelict area.
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Hide Ad“It’s going to provide a much needed variety in Featherstone for shopping and hopefully we might now be in a position where we can keep shoppers in the town instead of them going elsewhere as they can get everything they need here.
“It is going to provide employment for people living in our area and good quality employment as Aldi pays people the living wage.
“I like to think it will make Featherstone look like it is a place to come and a place that is going somewhere.
“And with the housing developments taking place in the town, this really could not have come at a better time for Featherstone.”
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Hide AdWork is underway to build 450 homes on land just off the A645 Pontefract Road near The Junction pub and more than 200 houses at Girnhill Lane.
The nearby Aldi and B&M retail development, at the former Crystal Drinks site, could be open by summer next year.
The site has been vacant since the factory closed in 2003.
Planning permission for a supermarket was granted in 2013 but no company came forward to invest in it.
The Dearne Estates proposal received 127 letters of support from people living in the area. No objections were made.
A Wakefield Council planning report said the scheme would help to regenerate the area, “facilitate investment” and “provide jobs and growth for the district”.