Motorway service station benefits ‘clearly’ outweigh green belt harm

Extra MSA’s proposals to vary two conditions, as part of an environmental assessment application, will come before the development management committee at its meeting on Thursday.

The principle of the development of a motorway service area to the north of junction 11 at Birchwood has previously been accepted by the granting of outline planning permission at appeal.

The committee will make a decision on the Section 73 application for the variation of conditions relating to the proposed site.

The original application gained outline planning permission with all matters reserved for approval apart from means of access. The detailed appearance, landscaping, layout and scale of the proposal would form a subsequent reserved matters application for approval at a later stage.

According to the report to the committee, condition five involves amendments to the four parameter plans included on the original permission. These parameter plans set out ‘defined zones for specific elements of the proposal and future reserved matters applications are required to be made taking into account these zones’.

Meanwhile, condition 26 would be amended to ‘allow the applicant the option to pursue’ a district level licensing agreement with Natural England, should great crested newts be found on the site.

The existing outline permission allows a facilities building, a 80 to 100-bed hotel, a fuel filling station for cars and HGV’s with associated retail outlet, and on-site parking for cars, HGV’s coaches, caravans, motorbikes and cycles – as well as external amenity space for visitors to the building.

This application seeks to retain all of the facilities and parking provision but relocates the fuel filling zones to a different location on the site.

The report to the committee adds: “Taking account of the above and the assessment of the implication of the proposed amendments subject to this current Section 73 application, officers are satisfied that the benefits put forward continue to clearly and demonstrably outweigh the harm identified and as such it is considered that the case for very special circumstances has been demonstrated.

“On balance, it is considered that other considerations clearly outweigh the harm to green belt in this case and that compelling very special circumstances exist which justify approval of the proposed development subject to the completion of a S106 agreement and referral to the secretary of state.”