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21

Jun 2021

Last Updated: 21/06/2021
Transport
Transport

Kirby Hill campaigners call for review of service station decision

by Calvin Robinson

| 21 Jun, 2021
Comment

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Campaigners in Kirby Hill have called on the government to review a decision to approve a motorway service station on the A1(M) near to the village. David Rose, a government planning inspector, gave the go ahead to the development in April after 25 years of planning battles.

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Kirby Hill Residents Against Motorway Services protesting against the proposals by Applegreen, which was later approved by a government planning inspector in April.

Campaigners against a planned motorway service station in Kirby Hill have called on the government to review a decision to approve the development.

Gareth Owens, chair of Kirby Hill Residents Against Motorway Services, said the decision made back in April “does not make sense”.

It follows a 25 years of public inquiries and planning battles over the service station which is earmarked for a site between junctions 48 and 49 of the A1(M) northbound, between Boroughbridge and Ripon.

David Rose, the planning inspector who oversaw the latest inquiry, gave approval for the plan submitted by Dublin-based company Applegreen.



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Campaigners have called into question one of the policies used in the inspector's report to approve the site, which says that the distance between motorway service areas (MSA) should be "no more than 28 miles, but it can be shorter".

Mr Owens said the policy “appears to have been plucked out of thin air” and called for a review of the decision.

He said:

“The government should admit that it made a mistake in approving the Vale of York motorway services and should announce a review of this controversial decision.”


Mr Owens added that the service station was an example of developers pushing through applications and that proposed planning reforms had "gone too far".

He added:

"Boris Johnson and his Secretary of State, Robert Jenrick, need to realise that their reforms of the planning system to make approval easier have already gone too far.
"People are outraged that controversial major developments, such as the proposed Vale of York motorway services, are being imposed on them."


Julian Smith, MP for Skipton and Ripon, wrote to the government on behalf of residents to raise concern over the inquiry process.

In response, Eddie Hughes, minister for rough sleeping and housing, said while he understood the  “disappointment felt” by residents, the inspector took “full account” of representations made by them.

He said in a letter to Mr Smith:

“I understand the disappointment felt by Mr Owens and the other constituents you mention, that the outcome of these appeals was not what they were hoping. 
“However, it is clear from the decision that the Inspector took full account of representations received from interested local residents and, in particular, the evidence submitted by Kirby Hill Residents Against Motorway Services group. 
“Their representations are referred to and assessed by the Inspector throughout the decision.”