A developer could no longer be required to pay £75,000 in walking and cycling improvements for a service station in a village.
Plans for a new petrol station and charging facility adjacent to the A140 Ipswich Road, in Brome, near Diss, were back on the table for members of Mid Suffolk’s planning committee yesterday morning.
The development, submitted by R H Developments, had already been given the go-ahead in November last year subject to a section 106 legal agreement requiring the company to contribute £75,000 for walking and cycling improvements.
A prospective new service station on the A140 Ipswich Road, in Brome, near Diss, have been given the first green light by Mid Suffolk District Council. Picture: Google Maps
However, the county council’s highways team concluded although there were schemes in the pipeline, none had been designed and costed, meaning the agreement could not be fulfilled.
The new service station plans were submitted alongside a shop, a roadside restaurant with drive-through, 24 business starter units, and an HGV lorry parking facility.
Committee members decided to delegate to the chief planning officer to review whether there were any schemes which could be identified for the £75,000 contribution.
If no schemes are found, then the plans will go ahead without the contribution as the development is in accordance with planning law regardless.
The application won outline planning approval, which means it will still come back to the committee at a later date to nail down the details of appearance, access, landscape, layout, and scale — section 106 agreements can’t be put together at this stage of the planning application.