PLANS to build a new motorway service station are set to be rejected due to concerns that it is poorly designed and will add to traffic congestion.
Cherwell District Council is set to debate whether the huge new service station next to junction 11 on the M40 should be given the go-ahead at a meeting on Thursday.
In a critical report written by planning officer Matthew Parry, the council’s planning committee has been recommended to reject the plans.
Mr Parry wrote there was no ‘compelling’ need demonstrated for a new service station and it would result in the loss of land needed for employment sites.
The plans would see a petrol station, services area, HGV parking, offices and warehouse, creating 1,100 jobs.
Mr Parry added that he thought the development would be ‘congested, poorly designed and illegible.’
Due to the ‘inappropriate siting’ of the petrol station and lack of safe walking routes, the services area would be ‘congested and potentially unsafe’, according to Mr Parry, meaning it wouldn’t be able to function effectively.
He wrote that the amount of traffic generated has also been under-estimated with more congestion, queues and safety concerns on existing roads and junctions a likely consequence and ‘significant disruption’ to the motorway predicted.
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