Forecourt firm Petromex has been given the go-ahead to knock down a former filling station in Lancashire and build an all-new three-pump-island facility in its place, having previously been refused permission for the project.
In 2023 the Blackburn firm applied to Fylde Council seeking planning approval to redevelop the site, which sits in the village of Freckleton, but this proposal was rejected by the authority.
The council ruled Petromex’s plans represented an encroachment on green-belt land, while the firm was also told the two jet-wash bays it was seeking permission for would “appear as a dominant, imposing and incongruous addition to the street scene”.
Undeterred, in 2025 Petromex submitted updated plans, these only including one jet-wash bay, together with a lighting scheme assessment, which was absent from its first application. A one-way system for cars entering and leaving the site was also included.
Despite opposition from Freckleton Parish Council, which deemed the project “neither necessary nor beneficial”, Fylde Council, in its status as the planning authority, has granted permission for the scheme to go ahead.
Petromex can now construct its new forecourt, which will feature a 2,000sq ft shop fronted by eight parking bays, while the three pump islands will be served by two 35,000-litre underground tanks, and the single jet-wash bay will be surrounded by an acoustic fence.
