Warehouse retailer Costco is to expand its Birmingham forecourt after it became a victim of its own success, with queuing drivers blocking access to the attached supermarket and causing jams on a nearby main road.
The unmanned pay-at-pump site, which is only available to Costco members, currently features eight pump islands dispensing unleaded at 164.9p and diesel at 189.9p, both 10p below the national average.
The company says it needs to enlarge the site ”due to the success of the existing fuel facility”, because ”at very busy times queueing has impacted the entrance to the Costco warehouse and the A47”, the main road from which the petrol station and supermarket are accessed.
To deal with this issue Costco applied to Birmingham City Councill seeking planning permission to expand the site’s capacity by 50% by adding four new pump islands.
The firm also sought permission to install a separate filter lane for the petrol station on the A47, with another lane for shoppers wanting to visit the main Costco store.
Councillor Gareth Moore told the local authority’s planning committee that “there are horrendous queues trying to get into Costco because of the rates they have for their petrol”, and that “having separate entrances for the car park and the petrol station can only be a positive.”
Those sentiments were shared by the committee, which unanimously approved Costco’s plans.
