Plans to introduce 24-hour opening at a Dorset forecourt are being met with resistance from residents of a nearby retirement village.
Holton Heath Service Station underwent a knockdown rebuild shortly after it was acquired by Sterling Petrolem in 2023. When granting permission for the project, Dorset Council imposed a condition limiting the forecourt’s opening hours from 6am to 11pm, partly to “safeguard residential amenity”.
The firm subsequently sold the forecourt to Atlas Retailers, and a planning application submitted by Sterling in April this year to make the site a 24-hour one is being carried forward by Atlas.
The site sits at the mouth of a service road leading to Holton Heath Residential Park, a private development where homes are only available to those aged 50 or over.
A noise-impact assessment submitted as part of the planning application indicates making the site 24 hour will not increase disruption, partly due to the “dominance of road-traffic noise” from the A351 that the forecourt adjoins.
Homeowners at the residential park feel differently, though, and have lodged a number of objections to the 24-hour proposals.
One resident writes that the forecourt is “already making our lives difficult with leaving and entering our entrance”, while another considers that “extending the hours could lead to anti-social behaviour as the garage has already had three break-ins inside 18 months”.
A spokesperson for Atlas reiterated that the firm’s assessments indicate extending the site’s opening hours will cause minimal disruption, adding that part of the reason for making the forecourt 24 hour is to reduce the chances of it being broken into again, with two recent thefts seeing tobacco worth £30,000 stolen.
