Bolton Council has granted permission for MFG to install three jet wash bays and an associated plant room at a Morrisons forecourt in the north-east of the Greater Manchester town, despite a number of objections having been raised against the proposals.
The forecourt is located in the Harwood District Shopping Centre, while the jet wash bays will be erected on a triangular patch of land separated from the garage by the main access road for the centre’s car park.
Valeting has been one of MFG’s key areas of focus of late, while the firm is also rolling out digital advertising screens across its portfolio, and has switched fuel suppliers for scores of sites from Shell to Esso.
The land for the Bolton jet washes backs on to residential gardens and retail premises, and is currently used as an informal car park. The council received 11 letters from households objecting to the plans, with neighbours arguing that noise from the jet wash and its customers would stop them enjoying their gardens. Spray from the machines and light pollution from the floodlight that would illuminate the facility were also cited as concerns.
Bolton Council’s planning committee ruled the project should go ahead, though, because: the land for the jet washes is lower than neighbouring garden wails, screening it from view; two of the bays will be covered to reduce noise and spray; the flood light will be fitted with cowling, and be sited away from shared residential boundaries.
Council officials also found that MFG’s noise impact assessment was satisfactory, though a “post-commissioning validation report” was recommended to ensure actual noise levels are in-line with the ones that had been modelled. Officials also recommended the operating hours for the jet wash machines should be 8am to 10pm, rather than the 7am to 11pm window that had been proposed.
The authority ruled the jet wash bays and small plant room (containing a water tank and booster pump) befitted the character of the area and “would not be alien features within a supermarket car park”.
