Cheshire West and Chester Council again refuses permission for a Green Belt filling station on Chester’s outskirts to modernise

Jan 4 2011 by David Norbury, Chester Chronicle

A GREEN Belt filling station on Chester's outskirts has made a further unsuccessful bid to modernise.

The application was made at the BP filling station on Wrexham Road by Euro Garages Ltd.

Planning officers at Cheshire West and Chester Council were told it was proposed to demolish the long standing filling station, which has a shop and to erect a new filling station with a larger shop.

There would also be a larger, taller canopy.

The new build would be set further back into the site and additional landscaping would be provided.

Euro Garages put forward a 13 point justification arguing there were very special circumstances to allow the development in the Green Belt.

The company commented the number of filling stations had dropped considerably in recent years and owners had to diversify to provide up to date facilities including a convenience store.

The existing filling station was unsuitable for present day needs and modern commercial vehicles could not pass underneath the canopy.

A previous application was rejected on appeal in 2007, according to a report.

A local resident told the council he had no objection “as the current service station is an eyesore for visitors coming into the city”.

The previous inspector had not believed there were very special circumstances, planners pointed out.

There would be a much greater spread of development on the site and they believed the development would have greater prominence.

Recommending the application be refused, they said the redevelopment would cause unacceptable harm to the visual amenity of the open countryside.