New petrol station for A650 will bring jobs

Councillors approved plans for the station opposite Snowhill Retail Park, on the A650 which will create 24 jobs.

Developers had been forced to make several changes to the proposals after objections from those living nearby about noise and extra traffic.

These included limiting its opening hours from 6am until midnight, removing a refuelling pump for lorries and moving the station further away from neighbouring properties.

The changes were made after Wakefield Council’s Planning Committee deferred a decision at a previous meeting in March.

They felt the layout had not been thought through.

But speaking on behalf of developers Monte Blackburn, Mike Hopkins told Thursday’s meeting: “We’ve worked closely with the planning officers and taken into account the comments made by councillors at the last hearing and those made by people in the local community.
It’s now clearly demonstrated that the proposals will not have an undesirable impact on the lives of local residents.”

One letter of support had been written in support of the application, which suggested that it would offer healthy competition to a nearby petrol station in Newton Hill.

A traffic assessment found that an extra 150 vehicles may use the A650 as a result of the petrol station at peak times during the week.

A Wakefield Council planning officer said that the effect on the roads in the area would be minimal because most people using the petrol station would be passing traffic.

Speaking to Mr Hopkins directly, Councillor Alan Wassall said: “I was one of those who’d asked for a deferral last time.
“I do appreciate the efforts you’ve made to meet our requests and I’m happy to approve this now.”