'Final showdown' in bid to stop motorway services
VILLAGERS are gearing up for a “final showdown” in their fight against a motorway service station that has already been denied by local planners.
Motorway service station company Applegreen say a proposed development off the A1M at Kirby Hall near Boroughbridge would add £6m to the local economy and create more than 300 jobs.
But members of Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee refused the application in November, after more than 150 people objected to it.
Residents in the right over A1M service station fight – The Yorkshire Post saysLast month Applegreen appealed the decision, and it is set to go before a public inquiry by the planning inspectorate in June.
The plans represent the fifth attempt to build a rest stop in the area near Boroughbridge in the last 24 years.
Campaign group Kirby Hill RAMS (Residents Against Motorway Services), who have submitted a written statement to the inquiry again objecting to the plans, said the scheme is "socially and environmentally irresponsible", would cause substantial harm to the open countryside and the environment at Kirby Hill, and to the economy of the nearby market town of Boroughbridge.
Members of the group say they might even travel to Dublin, where the company is based, to protest at
Applegreen’s AGM in May, if coronavirus travel restrictions are lifted.
RAMS’ chairman, Gareth Owens, said: “Kirby Hill is Britain’s most controversial proposed MSA (motorway service area) site for a good reason - it is a completely inappropriate location for this type of development, which would cause substantial harm.
“For 24 years, decision-makers in the planning system and in the courts have agreed with us. “Applegreen’s recent MSA planning application was the fifth to be refused. Harrogate Borough Council’s Planning Committee rejected the scheme, saying it was not sustainable development and that it would cause substantial harm to the open countryside, to the environment and to the economy of the nearby market town of Boroughbridge.
“This is not news to local people. We told Applegreen about the harm their plans would cause back in 2017, but we were ignored.
“We feel very strongly that the company should now respect Harrogate Borough Council’s decision.”
Former Harrogate mayor Nick Brown, Conservative councillor for Bishop Monkton and Newby, whose ward includes the site, is opposed to the scheme.
He urged Applegreen to “take a really close look” at what they were doing.
“Speculatively ‘having a go’ at getting planning permission is one thing, but the Local Planning Authority has given six good reasons for refusal, on the back of four previous projects at this site that have gone the same way, three of them after Public Inquiry,” he said.
“Given the current business climate, I don’t understand why Applegreen is continuing to invest in such a controversial project, with so little prospect of success, contrary to the social and environmental credentials they claim for their brand.
“If ever there was a time for management to cut their losses on this project, it is now.”
Applegreen’s chief development director, Eugene Moore, said; “Applegreen has lodged an appeal with the Planning Inspectorate to consider the planning decision for the Vale of York motorway service area proposals.
“We don’t believe it is appropriate to comment on the process further until the appeal has been heard.”