After a new Aldi store opened at the site three years ago, businessman and owner Andy Nurden is now proposing a new garden centre and additional commercial buildings.

The site in question is the 4.05-hectare plot on Crudwell Road beside the A429, on the northern outskirts of Malmesbury.

Councillor Martin Smith described the plans as meeting “a really important need”.

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Site owner Andy Nurden runs his garden centre and local construction business from the site. (Image: public contribution)He said: “I know there is a real need for new buildings for commercial and light industrial use in our area.

“Local businesses who have outgrown their current facilities need larger premises to move into.

“There is a real shortage of these in our area. 

“This puts existing local jobs at risk, let alone the new jobs that could be created through expansion.”

A site plan for the proposal. (Image: AJA Architects) Former Malmesbury Mayor Councillor Gavin Grant added: “It’s a relief to visit a site that will create space for local jobs rather than yet more housing.

“We have hundreds of new houses already under construction or with permission to be built around Malmesbury.

“With jobs losses at Dyson, these plans and the jobs they will bring to our area are a welcome boost to Malmesbury’s economy.” 

Dyson is the main employer in Malmesbury and announced in July that it planned to cut up to a third of its UK workforce, which would mean 1,000 potential redundancies.

The firm, best known for inventing the bagless vacuum cleaner, said it was responding to “increasingly fierce and competitive global markets” and ensuring it is “prepared for the future”.

Mr Nurden expects to send off the first plans for the garden centre development in the next few months.

This will involve submitting an outline planning application to Wiltshire Council.

He said: “My hometown of Malmesbury is important to me and my family.

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“We could see up to 250 new jobs on this site for the people who live here and those who will move into the new homes being built. 

“I am a big supporter of our town-centre businesses and do not want to do anything here that will hit them.

“I want to see businesses and local jobs come here that will put more cash in the hands of locally-employed people to spend here in Malmesbury.” 

He added: “Not every young person is heading for university.

“Many will want to learn the practical skills that come with construction, working with plant, whether that be mechanical or those that grow in the soil.

“I want our businesses to offer those opportunities to them.”