Decision date set for A5 services plan on edge of Shrewsbury
Plans for a new service station next to the A5 on the outskirts of Shrewsbury will go back before councillors next week for a final decision on whether it can go ahead.
The proposals, for land next to Churncote Island, would include a petrol station and drive through coffee shop – with extra units including offices and a restaurant dropped after a previous application was refused last year.
Shropshire Council’s northern planning committee was torn over whether to grant permission for the reduced scheme at a meeting last month, with some members arguing it would cause congestion on the roundabout, while others pointed out expert highways officers had no such concerns.
Questions were also raised over staff car parking, whether a new footpath would be provided, and the level of financial contribution that should be requested towards the construction of the proposed North West Relief Road.
A proposal to grant permission was narrowly defeated by five votes to six, and councillors instead voted for a deferral, to allow the applicant, EG Group, to address their remaining concerns.
An updated report to the committee by planning officer Mike Davies says Highways England would not support a new exit off the A5, so the proposed Welshpool Road access was the only option.
The report says: “The road safety issues in relation to the proposed access and egress to the site have been carefully assessed using accepted industry modelling and the assessment demonstrates that the highway arrangements are acceptable.”
Turning to staff car parking concerns, Mr Davies says: “Six bays within the provided parking area will be allocated to staff, which was a concern of members when the application was previously considered.
“It is anticipated that the majority of site staff will be part time, and as such not all members of staff will be utilising the car park at the same time. Therefore, the parking provision is considered adequate to serve the staff anticipated at the site required for the petrol filling station and coffee shop operations.”
The report also confirms a footway will be provided along the southern side of Welshpool Road, linking the services to the nearby recently approved residential development, which forms part of the Shrewsbury West Sustainable Urban Extension (SUE).
The application site also comes under the SUE and is allocated for employment use, however the committee heard last month that there was now less demand for office space since the SUE masterplan was finalised in 2014.
If approval is granted the applicant will make an £80,000 contribution towards the North West Relief Road, but at last month’s meeting councillors questioned why this figure was so low.
Planning officers said it was because the application only covered part of the allocated site, the total contribution for which was agreed at £177,000 in 2014 and was therefore “set in stone” – despite inflation since then.
However Mr Davies’s updated report says the applicant “has agreed in principle to the idea of the contribution being index linked as requested by the elected members”.
The committee will meet next Tuesday to decide whether to grant permission for the scheme.
EG Group says the development will create 21 full-time equivalent jobs, and a “biodiversity net gain”. There will also be electric vehicle charging points.
