Frustration over planning delay to £5m scheme for truck stop scheme frustrating

Proposals for the development at Leeming Bar were drawn up by Exelby Services to bolster services for heavy goods vehicles and create 20 jobs once the motorway upgrade of the A1 is completed.

However, last year the company became embroiled in a planning inquiry into a new motorway services area and the application was called in by the Government, despite it being approved by Hambleton District Council.

Exelby Services now faces further delays after it was announced the inquiry was set to be re-opened with a decision not expected until June next year, meaning it could be 2013 before the truck stop is operational.

Last month, the Yorkshire Post revealed a campaign had been launched to halt an alarming rise in freight thefts on North Yorkshire’s roads in the run up to Christmas as thieves target lorries laden with goods.

Exelby Services chief executive Michael Exelby said the campaign added further fuel to the fire as the new truck stop would tackle the lack of secure parking for lorries on the A1. He added: “It is very frustrating that at a time when North Yorkshire Police are mounting a campaign to halt the rise in the theft of goods from lorries, our plans to build a truck stop with secure parking for 100 vehicles face more delays.

“The application – which was approved by Hambleton Council more than a year ago – ended up being ‘called in’ by the Government and we have had to participate in the recent Motorway Service Area (MSA) planning inquiry.

“We had expected a decision shortly but now the inquiry is to be re-opened as the Secretary of State requires further information about the MSA applications.

“The outcome is, that even if we get permission to build our site, it will be Spring 2013 before our truck top could be operational. Meanwhile, the new motorway will have been completed next spring and currently there will be no facilities for at least a year for any motorist for the 40 miles between Wetherby and Scotch Corner.

“The Government has admitted there is a desperate need for more secure lorry parks. We are all ready to build one in an ideal location but now face more delays due to red tape.”

The new truck stop, which has been earmarked for a site next to the new junction being created at Leeming Bar, would provide more than 100 parking spaces for lorries as well as refuelling and “driver welfare facilities”.

Mr Exelby, whose family has operated a truck stop and lorry park at Londonderry, near Bedale, for the past 50 years, said: “We are stuck in the system. We have contacted the Road Haulage Association and the Freight Transport Association and they have submitted letters in support of our service.

“We have also contacted Richmond MP William Hague, who has been very supportive of our case and he has taken it up with various Government departments.

“It’s just extremely frustrating this inquiry has dragged out and taken so long.

“We are an established company fulfilling a current need and we are having to re establish ourselves, which just seems crazy.”

Over the past six months there have been over 27 reports of theft from HGVs across the county – with nine of them in the Hambleton and Richmondshire area alone.

“In a bid to tackle the rise, Hambleton and Richmondshire Community Safety Partnership joined forces with North Yorkshire Police and launched a festive crackdown campaign, which has seen patrols stepped up in the run up to Christmas Day. The Road Haulage Association has blamed the spate on the lack of secure places to park on the A1, with many drivers being forced to park in lay-bys.