Multiple concerns over impact of motorway services dismissed as council approves plans

There is no dispute Junction 33 on the motorway is at saturation point, unable to cope with increases in traffic levels.

But a short distance away, the Advanced Manufacturing Park has already proved a huge success, drawing some of the most prestigious names in engineering, including Rolls Royce and McLaren, to the county.

More are expected to follow, bringing substantial prosperity with the highly skilled jobs their industries are built upon.

A huge gulf now divides Rotherham Council and the bodies behind that success, however.

Rotherham Council, which has approved plans for a £40m motorway service area at the point where the M1 and Sheffield Parkway meet, insist the development will actually help traffic.

The scheme, though final details have to be decided, will put new lanes into the M1, Parkway and roundabout which forms the interchange between the two.

That, they say, will improve traffic flow in future compared to a 'do nothing' scenario.

Sheffield Council, landowner Harworth Estates and Sheffield University argue otherwise, however, and are concerned that focusing more traffic on the junction will deter investors with many millions of pounds to spend in future.

Their fears are based on expectations of developments to come in the future, while Rotherham Council insist they can only make projections on traffic volumes using information about schemes they actually know about.

Planning officer Nigel Hancock told councillors who approved the scheme that information provided satisfied the council and Highways England.

"It has all been agreed by Highways England, they are hard to please. We have worked diligently with them for two years to get these things right," he said.

A further factor is that further widening work could take place on the Parkway, though the scheme would rely on Government cash. No decision has been taken on that so far, though the potential source of the funding has been identified.

Coun Pat Jarvis said she was concerned about the impact on the Advanced Manufacturing Park and future development.

Coun Bob Walsh said: "If we look back over many decades, every now and then it gets choked up and then modified.

"I think we need to have the confidence as a city regionm, we need to put our case to the Government for enhancement to our infrastructure.

"I don't think they can use the aspiration for the Advance Manufacturing Park to turn down this application," he said.

*The development of a motorway service station at Junction 33 on the M1 is only one chapter in the story of South Yorkshire's saga on the subject.

Council officers had been working on the Junction 33 application for two years before putting details to planning councillors who approved it.

That makes the scheme a mere baby compared to a rival which was first proposed three miles away at Smithywood, near Chapeltown, as long ago as 2014.

The proposals, highly controversial and complex because they would have seen acres of ancident woodland lost, have never progressed to the decision stage.

It is unlikey more that one motorway service area would win approval in South Yorkshire - only one is needed to plug a gap between Woolley Edge to the north and Woodall to the south.

The company behind the Smithywood plan, Extra motorway services, raised objections to the Junction 33 site, claiming their option was the only viable site in the area.

Now the company will consider its legal options, which could include taking Rotherham Council's decision to a Judicial Review, to ask a Judge to overturn it.

To be successful that would involve illustrating that the decision-making process was flawed.

Extra was represented at Rotherham Council's planning board by Pegasus Planning consultants and afterwards spokesman Paul Bedwell said: "There is a community of interest, concerns are expressed by members of the community, local councillors and consultees, all expressing similar reservations. Clearly it wasn't a lone voice.

"Judicial Review is something we have to give serious thought to. We have voiced concerns and they still have not taken account of those concerns.

"It is the only thing we have open to us in terms of challenging the decision," he said.

*Although planning permission has now been granted for a new motorway service station, the decision-making process is not yet finished.

The site was given 'outline' planning permission, which sets down the basic principle that the service station can be developed, along with details for access - how vehicles will get in and out of the site.

Finer details, such as how buildings will look, how large car parks will be and exactly what facilities will be on site have to be decided later.

What is known is that the site winning approval sits on both sides of the M1, with an early indication that the Rotherham side of the site will be used to accommodate heavy lorries, which are normally kept separate from lighter traffic.

Speculative plans show the two sides would be joined by an under pass.

It is expected the buildings to go on the site would be low-rise, with the development having a limited visual impact on the area.

That is in contrast to alternative plans for the site, passed in 2008, which could have seen a five storey hotel block constructed.

Planning applications normally have a three year lifespan before they expire, but work had started on that site with an access route being created, meaning that rules no longer applies.

*Concerns have been raised that a new motorway service station could leave nearby communities exposed to increasing pollution as well as an extra risk from flooding.

The site of the new development covers land on both sides of the M1 at Junction 33 and also runs alongside Sheffield Parkway – close to the communities of Brinsworth and Catcliffe.

According to planners, neither of those will be affected by the development, though councillors raised concerns before the service station won approval.

Questions were raised about whether development of the land would caused an increase in ‘run off’ water, leaving Catcliffe more susceptible to flooding in future.

Councillors were told that should not happen, though it was accepted that deluges like the recent downpour are likely to become more common in future, with ‘attenuation’ measures to be designed into the complex.

That means allowing enough land to hold water during intense rainfall to prevent it from washing into populated areas like Catcliffe, which has suffered from flooding previously.

Water can then be released on a controlled basis.

The closest homes are in Brinsworth, but councillors were assured calculations had been completed which confirmed there would be no increase in air pollution because of the service station, attributed to the fact that vehicles stopping there would be on the road already, rather than making a specific journey to that location.

Coun Jennifer Whysall told the meeting: “I am really not convinced that such close proximity, nearby dwellings won’t suffer noise or air pollution. I think that is inevitable.

“I would not want to live that near to it,” she said.