Fears at plan for Ludlow petrol station

Building a petrol station, convenience store and coffee shop on the corner of Bromfield Road and Coronation Avenue in Ludlow would put pupils from nearby Ludlow School at risk, said Andy Boddington, Shropshire Councillor for Ludlow North.

The councillor, a member of Shropshire Council's south planning committee who will be looking at the proposal on Tuesday, has said a new pedestrian crossing must be built if plans are to go ahead, and he still has concerns about the potential for pollution of the town's nearby water courses, despite assurances by developers that the tanks would have "triple protection" against leaks.

The plans by Mead House Pension scheme will bring a much-needed second petrol station to the town, and create eight full time and 10 part-time jobs, developers say.

The scheme is recommended to go ahead by county planning officers.

But with 200 pupils passing along the road at peak times, Councillor Boddington said he was concerned for their safety.

"It is pretty obvious that a number of the children will regard the new store as a tuck shop on their way in and out of school," he said.

"That's no problem except there is no safe crossing proposed to the it.

"Coming from the south, Coronation Avenue is a fast road where too many people are unfortunately tempted to put their foot down.

"We see a similar pattern on Bromfield Road, where traffic coming from the north speeds up after the 20mph zone and speed humps.

"Shropshire Council planners are suggesting that railings might be installed around the Bromfield Road corner to guide pedestrians to the most appropriate crossing point. This won't work on its own.

"I am convinced we need lights controlled pedestrian crossing across Bromfield Road to the convenience store."

He said a pedestrian refuge should also be put in Coronation Avenue.

"What we must avoid is a repeat of what happened at Harry Tuffins at Foldgate (the town's only current petrol station, now run by Mid Counties Co-operative).

"Because the crossings were installed after the site was developed, we ended up with a compromise for the zebra crossing on Foldgate Lane. I use this crossing daily and it can be hair-raising - I have lost track of the number of times traffic has sailed over the crossing without noticing that it's there or I am trying to cross."

Developers say the new petrol station will redevelop an ugly and redundant site, once Burway Abbatoir, for the town in a £2.5 million project.

James Evans of Halls Commercial, acting as agent for Mead House, said designers had spent a year and a half doing "painstaking" work with authorities on the project.

The station will be one of the safest in the country for pollution protection, he said with double-skin steel tanks in a impermeable concrete bund below ground level, monitored and alarmed for leaks.

"This project will have huge benefits for Ludlow in terms of investment, jobs and the environment," he said.