Plans have been submitted to redevelop Muskham Service Station on the southbound side of the A1 near North Muskham, replacing an abandoned hotel and existing restaurant building with a new roadside amenity building, electric vehicle charging bays and reorganised HGV refuelling facilities.
The full planning application has been submitted to Newark and Sherwood District Council by Welcome Break Services Limited. The supporting Design and Access Statement, prepared by ADS Design on behalf of Welcome Break Group Limited, says the proposal is for the development of a modern roadside service area on land east of the A1 southbound at Muskham Service Station, NG23 6HT.
The site is north of North Muskham, around four miles north of Newark-on-Trent, and currently operates as roadside services with car and HGV refuelling, an associated shop, and a restaurant building incorporating Greggs and Burger King. The documents state there is also a large hotel on the site which closed and was abandoned around five years ago.
The application proposes the demolition of the existing hotel building and restaurant building, together with the replacement of the current roadside food offer with a single amenity building. The existing car pump islands and shop kiosk would be retained, while the HGV pump islands would be removed and replaced in a new position intended to improve circulation for larger vehicles.
According to the planning documents, the proposed development would include three existing fuel pump islands under a canopy, two new HGV fuel pump islands under a standalone canopy, the retained shop kiosk building, a new amenity building, 82 car parking spaces, 18 electric vehicle charging spaces, five disabled bays, two substations, EV charging equipment, landscaping and drainage infrastructure.
The new amenity building would be located toward the north of the site and would include male, female and accessible toilets with showers, two food vendors, one of which would include a drive-through, a seating area, back-of-house space, a store room and a game zone. The entrance would face the site and petrol forecourt, with pedestrians able to access it using a two-metre-wide accessible footpath.
The Design and Access Statement says the proposals are intended to “rejuvenate” what it describes as a tired roadside services site by streamlining the retail provision, separating HGV refuelling from other uses and providing electric vehicle charging bays. It says the site layout has been designed to split the development into two broad sections, with the amenity building and EV charging bays to the north and the refuelling pump islands and associated retail building to the south.
Motorists would continue to use the existing access and exit from the A1, and the documents state that no changes are proposed to the site access or egress and no general off-site highway works are proposed. Within the site, traffic would be directed by white-lining arrows and signage. Pedestrian routes would link key areas of the site and are proposed to include level, non-slip surfaces, dropped kerbs, tactile paving and visually contrasting paving.
The EV charging hub would include 18 charging bays, with two nearby substations shown to provide the necessary power. The applicant says this is intended to future-proof the site and support the use of electric vehicles.
The application has not yet been decided by Newark and Sherwood District Council. The council will consider the plans through the planning process before deciding whether permission should be granted, refused, or approved subject to conditions.
