Catterick: Go-ahead given to £57m service station on A1(M)

The development on the A1(M) at Catterick will be about the size of 110 Olympic swimming pools

Plans for a £57m motorway service station near a wildlife haven in North Yorkshire have been approved.

The Roadchef scheme, which includes a hotel, will be built on an 11-hectare (27 acre) former quarry site off the A1(M) near Catterick.

Campaigners had said the development would impact nearby Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) Swale Lakes.

The firm said it would pay almost £2m to create wildlife habitats elsewhere to compensate.

The service station plans include a 100-bedroom hotel, Costa and McDonald's drive-thru cafes, petrol station and HGV overnight parking.

Roadchef director Ian Mackay told a meeting of Richmondshire District Council's planning committee it would employ more than 300 people.

Objectors had said nearby wildlife on Swale Lakes, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, would suffer

He said: "This is not a speculative project, but the most important project in Roadchef's development."

Objectors, including other motorway services firms, had questioned the need for another service station in the area, particularly following consent being granted to develop services near Boroughbridge and plans being lodged to upgrade services at nearby Scotch Corner.

However, planning officers said a services area was needed at the junction to serve A1(M) users between Durham and York, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

To compensate for the loss of wetland habitat and other ecological damage, the firm had agreed to extend a wildlife haven 17km away at Nosterfield, near Masham, which planning officers said they had been assured would happen "sooner rather than later".