Campaigners in Kirby Hill have claimed North Yorkshire Council has threatened high legal costs to dissuade them from proceeding with a judicial review over a new motorway services near the village.

Kirby Hill Residents Against Motorway Services told the authority they intend to press ahead with legal action over a move to grant permission for a service station between junctions 48 and 49 of the A1(M) northbound, near Boroughbridge and Ripon.

Councillors on the authority’s planning committee granted approval for the scheme on September 12, which would see a Welcome Break built at the site, as well a filling station and 364 car parking spaces created.

However, campaigners say the decision was flawed and that they intend to challenge the approval.

In a letter to Kirby Hill RAMS, the council said the decision was lawful and that it would contest any claim.

It added that it reserved the right to apply to the court to raise the claimant cost cap, which is set at £5,000 under the Aarhus Convention.

The convention, which is an international agreement, grants the public rights in accessing information and participation in government decision making on environmental matters, such as planning decisions.

The council’s letter said:

“We note that your pre-action letter does not address the claimant’s position on costs and the Aarhus Convention.

“Any such application will require the disclosure of the claimant’s finances and the defendant reserves the right, on consideration of said information, to apply to the court to raise the claimant’s Aarhus costs cap above the starting limit of £5,000.”

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Gareth Owens, chair of Kirby Hill RAMS, said the authority was using a threat of high costs to dissuade residents from challenging its decision.

He said:

“It feels like the council doesn’t want its decision to be challenged in the High Court and is saying ‘try it and we’ll have your house if you lose’.

“This is the reality of our new council, which told communities that it would listen to and work with them in the way it makes decisions and improves its delivery of services.

“In practice, at the first sign of a challenge, the council is prepared to ask the court to set aside the rights of residents to environmental democracy, to protect its decisions from proper scrutiny.” 

Mr Owens added that campaigners have responded to the council calling for a dialogue with the authority “to resolve the matter without recourse to legal proceedings”.

The Stray Ferret asked the council whether it had a response to the suggestion that it was threatening high costs to dissuade legal action over its decision.

Barry Khan, assistant chief executive for legal and democratic services at North Yorkshire Council, said:

“We have responded to the letter we received setting out our position. This asserts that the decision was lawfully made and we will contest any claim that is made.

“The section regarding the cost cap is a standard response, simply reserving our position in case a claim is issued as we need to protect taxpayers’ money at all times.”

The company behind a proposed motorway service station on the A1 near Kirby Hill has told a public inquiry there is an “established need” for the facility.

Applegreen Plc, a Dublin-based company which runs filling stations in the USA, UK and Ireland, is appealing a decision by Harrogate Borough Council to reject its plan in 2019.

It is the fourth time the development, just north of Boroughbridge, has been brought before a planning inquiry in 25 years.

David Rose, the government’s planning inspector, opened the inquiry this morning.

The inquiry is also hearing an appeal from Moto Hospitality for a service station at junction 50 near Ripon. The borough council refused the plan in October last year.

The hearings are being held online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Opening statements were heard from Applegreen, the borough council, Moto Hospitality and Kirby Hill Residents Against Motorway Services today.

‘Urgent’ need for services

Rhodri Price Lewis, who is representing Applegreen, said there was an “established need” for a new motorway service area between Wetherby services and Leeming Bar.

He said the “primary function” of services is to support safety and welfare of drivers.

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Mr Price Lewis argued that government policy now required services to be located no more than 28 miles apart and that the distance between Wetherby and Leeming Bar exceeded this.

He told the inquiry:

“There is a need for a motorway service area and the Applegreen site is well placed to meet that need.”

He added the £40 million Applegreen site would create a “substantial amount” of new jobs.

Addressing concerns the site would encroach into the open countryside, Mr Price Lewis said it was “inevitable” and “inescapable” that agricultural land would have to be used “if the need is to be met”.

The site off the A1 northbound between junctions 48 and 49, where multiple plans for a motorway service station have been submitted.

Meanwhile, Peter Dixon, speaking on behalf of Moto Hospitality, said the proposed services near Ripon would better serve the A1.

He told the inquiry that a delay in the upgrade at Leeming Bar, which was given permission in 2012, demonstrated an “urgent” need for a new service station.

Developers “will not take no for an answer”

Stephen Wale, representing Harrogate Borough Council, told the inquiry there was no need for the services.

He added the Applegreen site would encroach into open countryside and harm the landscape.

Mr Wale said drivers already had the benefit of two services within a short distance of each other and that the proposed site was not allocated in the council’s Local Plan, which is the blueprint for future planning in the district.

The motorway service station site, as proposed by Applegreen, on the A1 northbound near Kirby Hill.

He said:

“In short, there is no need for either of the appeal schemes.

“There is an existing motorway service area at Wetherby. There is a motorway rest area at Leeming Bar, controlled by Moto, and development has begun there with respect to a planning permission granted for a motorway service area.”

The inquiry also heard from Gareth Owens, chair of Kirby Hill RAMS, who spoke on behalf of residents.

He said the Applegreen site had already been rejected by councillors, inspectors and the High Court multiple times over the last 25 years.

Mr Owens said: 

“The question that local people are asking, sir, is ‘why are we even here again’? 

“The answer, sadly, is that this site has a recalcitrant promoter who, despite 25 years of refusal, will not take ‘no’ for an answer, because they have no respect for the properly-taken decisions of the planning system.”

He added that the residents’ group disagreed with claims from the developer that the distance between the two current services was 28 miles.

Mr Owens said the service station was not needed and would be an “unnecessary development”.

The inquiry is expected to continue for 11 days.

Residents in Kirby Hill have said plans for a motorway service station have been “a burden” on the village for the past 25 years.

Kirkby Hill Residents Against Motorway Services (RAMS) have campaigned against four applications on the site on the A1 northbound, which is just 500 yards from the village.

In a saga which has spanned a quarter of a century, the application has been before multiple council planning committees, faced three public inquiries and been turned down twice by the Secretary of State and the High Court.

Now, residents are set for a fourth public inquiry tomorrow after Applegreen, the latest developer to have submitted a proposal, has appealed against another rejection by Harrogate Borough Council.

Gareth Owens, chair of the RAMS since 2002, said the village is tired of fighting the proposals and expect them to come back every five years.

He said:

“The thing people say to me is ‘when will no mean no?’.

“This is the fourth public inquiry in 25 years and it’s a burden on the village.”

The motorway service station site, as proposed by Applegreen, on the A1 northbound near Kirby Hill.

Mr Owens and his team will once again mobilise for the inquiry tomorrow.

Twenty-two residents will give evidence to the inquiry, which is being held online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Read more:

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Residents are expected to argue that there is no need for another service station on the A1 and that the development would do more harm than good.

In evidence due before the inquiry, they will say that the Secretary of State refused permission for the Kirby Hill site twice in favour of a station at Wetherby in 2003 and an upgrade to Leeming Bar in 2012. They will also say that the development is contrary to the newly adopted Harrogate district local plan.

Gareth Owens, chair of the Kirby Hill RAMS, speaking against the application at Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee. Picture: Kirby Hill RAMS

While the last quarter of a century has been difficult for residents, Mr Owens said they are determined to see off another attempt to build on the site.

He said:

“It’s taken up a large amount of time and effort.

“One of the things we say is what we could have done to benefit the community if we were not fighting this.

“But we are determined to see this off. That been said, it has brought the community closer together.”

The Stray Ferret contacted Applegreen for comment, but did not receive a response by time of publication. The company said previously that it would not be appropriate to comment until the appeal had been heard.

Councillors have rejected a bid to build a new motorway service area five miles from Ripon.

Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee voted this afternoon by 11 to 1 against the proposal by Moto Hospitality, which operates 45 similar sites across the country,

The proposal included a petrol filling station, small hotel, food and retail units and parking for HGVs and coaches on land west of the A61 and A6055 at junction 50 of the A1(M).

Steve Masters, property director at Moto, told committee members the site would support haulage drivers travelling through the district and create 200 jobs.

He said:

“Covid has demonstrated the critical nature of food and medicine logistics and has increased the need for a motorway service area to support the haulage sector.”

A motorway service station at Kirby Hill, about five miles to the south of this site, was refused permission by HBC in November 2019 and is now at appeal. A public inquiry is scheduled later this year.

Moto Hospitality has planning permission from Hambleton Council to expand its Leeming Bar services near Northallerton, which is north of the proposed site.

However, Mr Masters told the committee the company had decided not to go ahead with this redevelopment.

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Gordon Gledson, chair of Hewick and Hutton Parish Council, spoke against the proposals.

He said:

“I do not think there is a need for another service station. The A61 is already a heavily used road and the increase in traffic on a large roundabout will lead to a decrease in road safety”.

Cllr Windass, the only councillor to back the proposals, said the plans were “less harmful and controversial” than the Kirby Hill motorway service area rejected by HBC last year.

Cllr Pat Marsh said she was concerned about the impact the site would have on the environment.

She said:

“This is all about our landscape and what heritage we are leaving for our children. What we’re doing is putting within a landscape, buildings, earth mound and trees that are totally alien to this part of our wonderful district. I think it is wrong.”