M25 services approved despite green belt concerns

Plans for a new motorway service area on land previously designated as green belt have been "reluctantly" approved by a council due to changes in policy.

Buckinghamshire Council's Strategic Sites Committee has backed Extra MSA Group's proposals to build Chiltern Chalfont Services between junctions 16 and 17 of the M25.

The outline application to the Conservative-led authority included a two-storey building containing a food court, retail space, business facilities and toilets.

Councillors resolved to refuse the application in September 2023 over its impact on the green belt land, but after changes to national planning policy, officers said the site now qualified as "grey belt" land.

The scheme includes a 24-pump filling station, parking for up to 759 cars, 190 HGVs and 19 coaches, along with EV chargers, landscaping and drainage infrastructure, according to Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Colne Valley Regional Park warned major developments threatened "the very existence of the park", while the applicant's agent, Sebastian Tibenham, said motorway service areas were essential and "the need here is acute".

The applicant estimated the development would create approximately 674 jobs during its two-year construction and 244 jobs once operational.

Mark Roberts, a Liberal Democrat councillor, said he sympathised with objections concerning the loss of countryside but believed the committee had to apply the government's current planning rules.

He said: "Regardless of what we think about the open countryside, applying those rules is our role here."

David Moore, a Conservative councillor, said he "reluctantly" supported the application but called for robust requirements covering waste and litter collection, including CCTV and coverage of the slip roads.

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