Wolverhampton petrol station to open one hour earlier as plans approved
A petrol station on a busy Black Country road has had its opening hours extended despite opposition from nearby residents.
Compton Service Station on Bridgnorth Road will now open an hour earlier at 6am after having its application approved by Wolverhampton Council.
Despite worries from neighbours who were concerned over noise problems impacting on sleep, the majority of councillors voted to approve the plans temporarily, meaning the changes will now be monitored for the next 12 months.
The council received 10 complaints from residents in the lead up to the committee debate on Tuesday.
Of the 12 councillors on the planning committee only three rejected the plans - Conservatives Wendy Thompson and Jonathan Yardley and Labour councillor Celia Hibbert.
Councillor Thompson said: "We've met this before where residents, that are very close to application sites, are not notified and I would suggest to residents that they keep diaries with regard to noise, light pollution, and generally any complaints they may have.
"They should also send complaints to the planning officer and the environmental agency as this is a large, national, commercial company, and evidence will be paramount in regard to the end of the period of 12 months.
"It does give me some concern, it's a very residential area, that 6am start should be kept for industrial and business areas and not a residential one.
"You can tell from the number of objections that this is causing concern and there needs to be clearer criteria for the monitoring period."
Planning permission for the site, which has four petrol pumps, a shop and car wash, was granted in 1993 with opening hours restricted from 7am to 11pm.
Now after council bosses found that noise pollution didn't cause a 'significant impact' to surrounding properties, the pumps will now open from 6am for the next 12 months, where the issue will again go before the council.
