Shell garage in Kenilworth is 'magnet for drunks'

[dutchman]

Concerned homeowners gathered at a planning inquiry on Tuesday to fight against an appeal from Shell to trade 24-hours-a-day.



Owners of the filling station in Warwick Road submitted an appeal to the planning inspectorate after Warwick District Council refused to remove a condition from a previous application to allow them to trade 24-hours-a-day.

They said the district council gave too much weight to the residents and maintained no adverse impact would be had on the community if the station was able to trade through the night.

Despite 1,183 signatures supporting the garage’s plans, David Edmonds, district council senior planning officer, said only seven of these came from people living in the area affected.

Shell used to trade 24-hours-a-day, illegally, and when the district council found out it stopped the garage from doing this. Residents at the planning inquiry, commented that when the station was open through the night it acted like an informal taxi rank for clubgoers and attracted drunken and rowdy individuals “like moths” because food and drink was sold there.

Others said they used to “pray for rain” when the site was open 24 hours so people would not want to gather there in the early hours of the morning.

Brian Osmonds and Derrick Ward, who live close to Shell, added: “If the station were to be open like this again these problems are likely to come back, as well as light and noise pollution.”

The company’s agent Sara Parkinson, of CB Richard Ellis Ltd, said: “Shell acknowledges the concern of the residents but wants to work with them and would be prepared to trade 24 hours for a six- or 12-month trial period to see if there were any real problems caused. The 24-hour opening would also result in three new full-time jobs.”

The planning inspector Barry Juniper said his aim was to make the site acceptable for residents and if he granted the filling station’s application there would be a number of conditions attached to it. He added: “I will make my decision in around three weeks.”