Planning permission granted for Pontefract petrol station and convenience store

Wakefield Council has given the go-ahead for the new business on land off Wakefield Road.

The scheme includes building a petrol station, retail building, parking spaces and electric vehicle charging points.

Access to the site will be from Wakefield Road.

A statement submitted on behalf of the applicant, Valli, states that the new business will create three full time and seven part time jobs.

The council received two objections to the scheme with concerns about increased traffic, noise, air pollution and “negative impact on property values”.

Six letters of support were received from people wanting to see more amenities in the area and the empty land returned to use.

The applicant originally applied for the business to be opened 24 hours a day.

The council’s environmental health officer has advised that, instead of 24 hour operation, the petrol station operates between the hours of 7am and 10pm.

A petrol station previously occupied the site during the 1990s.

The planning statement says: “The traditional purpose of roadside services has altered considerably.

“That traditional model was based primarily around the sale of fuel, with a very small ancillary kiosk that sold sweets, drinks, cigarettes and car related products.

“It is noticeable that few of these petrol stations now exist and have either been redeveloped for alternative uses, modern roadside services or are left vacant.”

The document also states that fuel sale profitability is “poor”.

It adds: “As a consequence petrol stations have had to diversify into the modern-day roadside facility that are now common place on the road networks in the UK.

“Modern roadside services are not now simply used as a means to refuel, they also provide invaluable place of respite for drivers and include food to go and convenience retail offers.

“M&S, Spar, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Costa, Starbucks are all common household brand names that are now synonymous with the petrol station.”