Rochdale rejects EG Group’s service station on health grounds

Plans from Mohsin and Zuber Issa’s firm featuring a petrol station and two drive-thru restaurants close to Junction 21 of the M62 have been rejected due to concerns about the health of young people.

Earmarked for a three-acre plot at the junction of Sir Isaac Newton Way and Michael Faraday Avenue in Rochdale, the scheme would have delivered a filling station, 12 EV charging bays, and two restaurants totalling 4,400 sq ft.

EG Group’s development would have filled “a strategic gap” in the provision of fuel, food, and rest stops, according to a planning statement prepared by Walsingham Planning.

At present, the closest motorway service stations from J21 of the M62 are both 24 miles away at Hartshead Moor and Birch.

However, Rochdale Council has decided not to permit the scheme, citing five reasons for refusal.

• The development of drive-thru restaurant units in the vicinity of Kingsway Park High School would fail to support healthy lifestyles

• The proposed development would result in an unacceptable level of harm to the amenity of neighbouring residents arising from traffic noise and disruption, delivery vehicles, site operation, and loss of outlook

• The application is not supported by sufficient information to demonstrate that the proposed petrol filling station would not create an unacceptable risk of pollution to groundwater

• The proposed development is not considered to achieve a high-quality of urban design

• The extent of the proposed main town centre uses in this location would be significant and insufficient assessment has been provided as to the impacts of these uses on any defined centre or planned investment in the creation of a new local centre at Kingsway Business Park.

To learn more about the scheme, search for reference number 23/01230/FUL on Rochdale Council’s planning portal.