Plans for second M&S on Leeds Road

The plans to redevelop the BP filling station on the east side of Leeds Road at Pannal have been put forward to Harrogate Borough Council.

The new store would be less than one mile away from the store which opened in June.

A spokesperson for BP confirmed the plans.

They said: “We’re redeveloping the site to extend the grocery provision on site and give options for customers.

“Our planning application has been submitted.

“This will bring greater choice to customers.

“BP plan to have an M&S Simply Food along with a Wild Bean cafe, retaining the forecourt.”

However Pannal resident Dorothy Little said it was ‘ludicrous’ to open a second store just a few hundred yards from the Oatlands Junction

store.

She said: “It seems ludicrous to me, but it will do well I bet.

“The petrol station shop will mainly be used by people who are passing through, visitors or people on their way to and from work.

“The one at Oatlands seems to do very well and it is always busy.”

The plans submitted to Harrogate Borough Council include removing the car wash equipment and building a small rear extension to create space for a bigger shop and cafe.

The council’s chief planner is set to make the decision on the application and it is expected that a decision will be taken before January 5.

Marks and Spencer were unable to comment on the plans as petrol station shops are franchises.

Pannal ward Coun John Mann (Con) was also unable to comment on the plans, as he is a member of the planning committee.

Shoppers queued out of the door when Marks and Spencer opened its Leeds Road store in June.

It opened almost two years after planning permission was first granted to bulldoze the former Nidd Vale garage.

The roadworks associated with the building of the Leeds Road M&S caused months of traffic chaos earlier this year, with commuters often stuck in miles of traffic.

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