Campaigners trying to stop what has been called 'Britain’s most controversial motorway service station' from being built have called for the scheme to go back to the drawing board amid claims new plans differ from those approved.
Outline planning permission was granted for a new Welcome Break motorway service area (MSA) on the A1(M) at Kirby Hill, near Boroughbridge, in 2021 after more than 20 years of legal wrangles.
But a campaign group formed to fight the scheme claims detailed plans submitted recently by the applicant are different to what was originally approved at a public inquiry.
Kirby Hill Residents Against Motorway Services (Rams) said the scheme was due to be discussed by North Yorkshire Council’s strategic planning committee earlier this month, but the meeting was cancelled due to concerns they and others had raised.
Campaigners claim the proposed MSA has grown in scale, with the new motorway overbridge required to access the services now 30 per cent higher than the design approved in the outline application.
The group says the MSA infrastructure also now extends east of the motorway across a field previously earmarked to return to agriculture, bringing the development closer to the village of Kirby Hill.
Gareth Owens, chair of Kirby Hill RAMS, said:
“It’s not what was approved — it’s bigger, it’s bulkier, and it’s crept well beyond the agreed scale and impact.
“The increased environmental harm hasn’t even been assessed by the applicant.”
Kirby Hill RAMS has formally asked that North Yorkshire Council issues a screening opinion as to whether the new reserved plans should be accompanied by a fresh environmental impact assessment.
The group said lawyers for the council were yet to respond.
Objectors also claim the plans do not meet current standards for electric vehicle charging provision at MSAs and have raised fresh concerns about flooding on the site.
Mr Owens said:
“Applegreen and Welcome Break are trying to force through a detailed planning application that’s now riddled with problems.
“This would be a sub-standard, environmentally-harmful MSA, not fit for the 21st century.
“Outline planning consent isn’t a blank cheque. If the scheme can’t be built to conform with the outline permission, the reserved matters application cannot be used to change it into something that would never have been approved.
“The serious legal and environmental issues this raises give the strategic planning committee good reasons to exercise its powers to refuse the application and send the developer back to the drawing board.
“That would be an appropriate outcome when the committee eventually meets.”
North Yorkshire Council’s head of development management, Martin Grainger, said:
“The reserved matters application relating to the Vale of York motorway service station proposal remains under consideration and will be reported to members of the council’s strategic planning committee at the appropriate point.
“We can’t comment on live applications.”
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has contacted Welcome Break for a comment.
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