MFG may have to remove three EV charging bays after installing twice as many spots as they originally gained planning permission for.
In 2021 the firm was granted permission by Aberdeen City Council to install three EV charging bays where conventional parking spaces originally sat at its Esplanade Filling Station.
MFG’s original application involved five EV bays, but this was slimmed down to a trio so the site could retain one accessible and two standard parking spaces in addition to the EV spots.
Yet the firm decided to install six EV bays, then in 2024 applied for retrospective permission for the additional spots, with this application refused.
Undeterred, the company applied for planning permission again in 2025, arguing that while “the addition of the charging bays necessitated the removal of some formal parking spaces”, the EV bays are shared with customers parking at the site to use the shop, and the arrangement had “not resulted in any safety issues or operational difficulties”.
A transport assessment commissioned by MFG, meanwhile, considered that “service station customers do not expect to find a car parking space on entering a forecourt and so the level of confusion/hesitation/queuing on the public highway would be negligible.”
The city council disagreed with this assessment, ruling that because “the site layout is very constrained and the site access is in very close proximity to a highly trafficked road immediately after a junction”, removing standard parking spaces “adversely impacts road safety” as it “introduces ambiguity and hesitation for drivers entering the site”.
MFG must now either remove chargers that were installed in addition to the three it has permission for, or appeal the decision.
