A leading commercial vehicle distributor has secured the backing of councillors to spend £6 million on reconfiguring its truck facility in Chesterton.
Members of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council’s planning committee voted unanimously to support Hartshorne Crossroads Properties Limited (HCPL)’s application to demolish its existing workshop and an industrial building on its Parkhouse Industrial Estate site.
Daily Focus previously reported that the scheme will see the construction of a new workshop and office and the refurbishment of existing MOT facilities, as well as creating 10 to 12 jobs, taking the total number of staff there to 40.
But the project has yet to be granted planning permission following a last-minute request for further information about drainage at the site by local lead flood authority Staffordshire County Council.
Once this has been provided and agreed by the county council, delegated powers will be used by the Service Director for Planning and the chair of the planning committee to issue planning permission.
HCPL provides affiliated motor services and truck sales to the wider Volvo Group in the UK and has been based at the site for more than four decades. But it says its existing facilities are ‘insufficient to meet current requirements’ and adds the application is about ‘future proofing the quality of Volvo trucks servicing experience’.
A report to councillors described the proposed development as representing ‘a good quality design’ and stated: “All technical issues have been addressed within this application or are covered by conditions.”
The new buildings will be erected in phases to allow the site to retain continuity in service during the construction period.
The MOT facility will be relocated to the east of the site, currently accommodating Advanced Packaging Solutions which Hartshorne acquired earlier this year.
