New services planned for Northumberland with petrol station, shop and drive-thru proposed for Spine Road site

A new services just off Northumberland’s Spine Road is set to get the go-ahead next week.
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The application for a petrol station plus shop as well as a drive-thru coffee shop, beside the A189 just south of Ashington’s North Seaton Roundabout, is recommended for approval at the Tuesday, March 2, meeting of Northumberland County Council’s strategic planning committee.

The site, to the north of Bernicia Headquarters on the Ashwood Business Park, is owned by Advance Northumberland, the wholly council-owned company, while Euro Garages is lined up as the operator.

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The involvement of Advance is why the plans have to be decided by councillors, despite there being no objections, and the planning officer concludes that it is an appropriate development on land earmarked for employment use.

The site of the proposed new roadside services by the A189 south of Ashington.The site of the proposed new roadside services by the A189 south of Ashington.
The site of the proposed new roadside services by the A189 south of Ashington.

A new access would be created off the Ashwood Drive roundabout, with the petrol station and shop located on the northern section of the site with the coffee shop towards the southern boundary.

There would be 19 parking spaces, including two disabled bays, at the shop, and 20, again including two disabled bays, at the coffee shop, which would also have an outdoor seating area.

Both elements are expected to create around 15 jobs – five full-time and 10 part-time, for a total of 30 from the development, alongside around 35 during construction.

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It is proposed that the petrol station, featuring four double-sided pumps, two HGV pumps in a separate area, two jet wash bays, a vacuum bay and an air/water bay, would operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, although the food-to-go offer would be open from 6am to 10 pm.

The drive-thru coffee shop would also be a seven-day-a-week operation, opening from 6am to 11pm.

A planning statement submitted with the application concludes that ‘it is considered that the development will provide modern roadside services that will complement both the Ashwood Business Park and road users on the A189’.

Established in 2001, Euro Garages Group is one of the fastest growing forecourt operators in the country, with around 360 freehold-owned sites throughout the mainland UK and thousands more in Europe, America and Australia.

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In the UK, Euro Garages currently operates with Starbucks, Burger King, Subway and Greggs.

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