Planning permission has been granted – for a third time – for a petrol station at Carn Business Park, Craigavon.
Planning permission had been previously granted in 2021 and 2022 but the applicant, Peter Wilson, says both approvals restricted the net retail space of the shop on the proposed site.
In this latest application, the shop size has been increased by 68sq m to 250sq m.
The site sits immediately northeast of the corner of Carn Road and Charlestown New Road junction. It is about 850m east of junction 2 of the M12. The application said that high volumes of traffic pass the site daily, travelling from the highway network to the large factories in the area. The site is also conveniently located for the businesses and workers at Seagoe Road located on the west side of the M12.
The application stated: “The site is an ideal location for a petrol filling station to cater for cars and vans and also larger HGV lorries. It is also well placed to meet the day-to-day needs of workers in the area and the residents that live northeast of Craigavon. Workers on their lunch break or travelling to and from work require services within their daily patterns of movement and to access refuelling opportunities and refreshments. For those that travel to work along the motorways, there are few opportunities to conveniently stop for their needs. The proposal site is ideally placed for workers to refuel and pick up basic necessities before and after work and at lunch time.”
Its case for a bigger shop was around the fact that use of petrol filling stations had changed since Covid, with people becoming more comfortable making use of smaller shops in which to do their top-up shopping.
The forecourt will have three pump islands and there will be 45 parking spaces and an HGV area
