Proposals from EG On The Move to construct a new filling station have met with an unprecedented number of objections from local residents, and concern from the Environment Agency over flooding.
The firm is seeking permission from Cumberland Council to build a new-to-sector service station on the A69 Warwick Road next to an existing Lidl supermarket in east Carlisle.
But while the plans follow the familiar EGOTM format – a sales building overlooking a four-pump-island forecourt, an ancillary drive-thru coffee shop, plus eight EV charging bays – the location for the project looks to be unusually problematic.
Because while almost all developments of this nature bring with them pockets of local resistance, the Carlisile project has seen 326 members of the public lodge official objections to the plans since they were validated by the council last month.
Many comments focus on common areas of concern for new forecourts such as traffic levels, with residents describing Warwick Road as “already chaotic”, and “often at a standstill”. Several objectors note that congestion on the road has worsened since the Lidl that sits adjacent to the plot opened in 2023. Locals also highlight there is a Tesco with filling station just half a mile up the same road.
Another, rarer, recurring theme is that the land in question sits on a flood plain, specifically being designated Flood Zone 3a, meaning it has at least a one in 100 chance of a flood occuring in any given year. In December 2015 the land was deluged after the nearby rivers Eden and Petteril “overtopped” during Storm Desmond.
The flood-risk assessment commissioned by EG On The Move as part of its planning submission highlights that the 2015 flood was modelled to be a one in a 333-year event; that the forecourt buildings will be “designed to flood”, accommodating flood water to a depth of 17.9m above sea level (the site itself is 14m above sea level); and that the development will feature “a sustainable surface water drainage strategy”.
The Environment Agency, however, has objected to the forecourt proposals and recommends they be refused. The authority says the land on which EGOTM intends to build sits “one of the lowest points on Warwick Road and is frequent ponded with water”.
The agency also says the flood-risk assessment carried out on EGOTM’s behalf “does not demonstrate a satisfactory understanding of the different and potential in combination flooding mechanisms that could affect the site”, and that “the potential impact of surface water flooding is likely to be underestimated”.
