Tebay-style Cheshire service station approved after inquiry
Tatton Estate and Westmorland Group have been given the green light to redevelop 39 acres between Junction 7 and Junction 8 of the M56 after the Planning Inspectorate declared the site Grey Belt.
Cheshire East Council approved plans for the motorway service station October 2023 despite 150 objections but it was called in by then-secretary of state Michael Gove due to its Green Belt status and pressure form a local campaign group.
Since then, the new labour government has introduced the concept of Grey Belt – effectively poor quality Green Belt – to free up more land for development.
Following an inquiry held last October, planning inspector David Rose concluded that “the site meets the definition of grey belt” and approved the development.
He concluded: “This is a good scheme that ought to have been operational long before now.”
The Glenn Howells Architects-designed Tatton Services would follow the blueprint set out at Westmorland’s Tebay and Gloucester service stations.
Tebay has become a destination in its own right, with around 4.5m visitors coming each year to fuel up, shop, and eat its locally sourced food.
The plans would feature a 68,000 sq ft main amenity building, a 100-bedroom hotel, and a filling station.
Sarah Dunning, chair of Westmorland, said: “We welcome the green light for our plans for Tatton Services; this now allows us to move on and develop our plans to the next stage of the project.”
Amy Bowden on behalf of the Tatton Estate, commented: “This unique sustainable motorway service area is exactly the sort of high-quality development the Tatton Estate are proud to promote, with a strong family-run ethos, excellent architecture, landscaping and environmental credentials. Tatton Services will bring lasting benefits to local businesses and the wider community, creating jobs and supporting the regional economy.”
Pegasus Group is the planning consultant for the scheme. The project team also includes FWP, Planit, Ramboll, Ecology Solutions, Jensen Hughes, Lightpad, BWB, and Les Postawa.
Great News. This has potential to become the go to destination for business meetings across the M56 corridor.
By Bentley Driver
Westmoreland could not have been blamed for walking away from this. Its outrageous that such a first class facility, that will be welcomed by millions who call there, has been delayed by a smallhandful of local self-interested protesters,putting at risk the sort of investment and job opportunities this country is crying out for to improve productivity. But the right decision at long last, and now look forward to things happening to vastly improve this scrappy and non-descript piece of land.
By Anonymous
Excellent Decision well over due
By Douglas
Good to see this, Tebay services are excellent and no doubt this will be the same. But locals need to bear in mind that it will not be possible to walk or cycle to this site from Bowdon, Hale or Altrincham. Nobody in their right mind would ever try to do that down the A56 Bowdon Road (they’d be killed). And the Bow Green Farm route is boggy, unlit, and very long.
The councils involved need to build a footbridge over the Bollin to connect to the site, so staff can access it easily. This would also finally connect the cycleway along the old A556 road to Altrincham.
By Flixton resident
I’m sure the locals can afford a taxi if they don’t want to drive, though most will want to drive
By Anonymous
Bentley Driver – absolutely. Word on the grapevine is that there will be premium corby trouser press centre on-site to help freshen up for key business conferences
By Lee
Excellent news. A new break area on the long stretch of the M56, just before the northeastern-bound lane of the M56 gribds to a halt at the four-lane stretch leading up to the Airport junctions.
Long overdue and very welcome.
By Mike Hindson-Evans
Definition of green, grey or brown belt please?
By Peter Chapman
About time, be a boost for artisans to showcase their wares, local farms and producers, visitors and create a lot of jobs.
By Anonymous
Not needed, not green, disastrous for local town centre. And creating more traffic, madness
By Steve
Hope they use a local contractor to build it!
By Phil Ingham
I hope they have ample spaces for hgv’s there’s nowhere to park these days
By Damo the trucker
Huge shame the cycling access proposed by a local campaign group hasn’t been included.
By Anonymous
@Peter Chapman ‘Definition of green, grey or brown belt please?’
Is there a reason you can’t find these definitions yourself? The internet is at your fingertips and all answers await.
By Sten
They should be made to extend the Metro link out there so that peoples without no car will be able to visit it as well.
By Brenda Chilvers
Definition of green, grey or brown belt please? Peter Chapman – you need to check out the National Planning Policy Framework December 2024.
This has a chapter on what national planning policy for Green Belt is and what is allowed or not.
It also introduced “grey belt” which is effectively poorly performing Green Belt. This can be either land that has been built on before (previously developed, sometimes called brownfield) or open land for example fields (greenfield). Brown belt is not a term used – I suspect you may mean brownfield.
The fundamental change to national policy in 2024 was that land which is currently Green Belt but which performs badly against the purposes of the Green Belt (fundamentally to keep land open and to prevent settlements merging) could fit the definition of “grey belt” and development becomes acceptable.
By Informed planner
@Peter Chapman – shifty grades of grey belt by the sounds of it. Was green, then grey and probably has some buildings and used as a compound for building the A556 so a bit of brown too !
By Roy G Biv