Moto Hospitality, which operates 70 sites across the UK, has moved one step closer to breaking ground on a new MSA on the M4, after Wiltshire Council recommended the project go ahead.
While the ruling doesn’t constitute the granting of planning permission, it should stand the firm in good stead when the proposals go before the authority’s Strategic Planning Committee, which is required due to the scale of the project.
The firm is hoping to build a new £30m MSA on a 7.3-acre plot by J16 of the M4. The 24-hour services will feature a 38,000sq ft main amenity building, a petrol station with four pump islands, a separate HGV PFS, a “large number” of EV charging bays, parking for 241 cars and 63 trucks, plus the usual specialised bays for caravans, coaches and motorbikes.
Planning for the M4 services was first applied for in 2023 and, while still in the outline stages, Moto clarified in 2024 that it intends to incorporate solar panels, and a ‘living’ roof for the main building, in the project.
This isn’t the only project Moto is working on at present. The firm is the UK’s largest MSA operator and has a planning application in for a twin MSA on J27/28 of the M25; another for a services on the M55 near Preston; and a third for the M3 by Basingstoke. In April last year, meanwhile, the company opened Sawtry services on the A1(M).
