Green light for Cheshire service station and hotel

The owner of Tebay Services has been given the green light to construct a new service station with a 100-bedroom hotel and farm shop at a site off the M56 in Cheshire.Tatton Services is behind the plans, which are earmarked for land at junctions seven and eight of the M56.The company is an 80/20 partnership between the Westmorland Family and Tatton Group, which manages a portfolio of developments on the Tatton Estate where the site is proposed.Westmorland is a family business and MSA operator and started with Tebay Services in 1972.The M56 site, which is located on green belt land, will be transformed to include a hotel, alongside a fuel filling station, a near 70,000 sq ft amenity building and a rebuilt western barn for cycle parking and ancillary structures.According to an application submitted to Cheshire East Council, the “proposed development offers a unique opportunity to deliver a host of benefits”.”These include significant benefits associated with socio-economic impacts, quality design, biodiversity net gain, health and well-being, tourism and other benefits associated with sustainable design, habitats and species, the redevelopment of the existing farmhouse, a number of positive highways impacts, and improved pedestrian and cyclist connectivity.”During two rounds of public consultation, the scheme attracted 150 objections and 27 letters of support.A report which went before Cheshire East Council’s Strategic Planning Board on Wednesday 25 October said that the proposal is an “inappropriate development in the Green Belt, which reduces openness and encroaches into the countryside”.However, it noted that the “identified benefits of the proposed development are considered to clearly outweigh the harm to the green belt” and recommended the scheme for approval.Councillors backed the development, in line with the recommendation.