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Total in Finchampstead Road has applied to Wokingham Borough Council to open for 24 hours a day
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Row over petrol stations 24-hour opening plan

By Julie Spencer
September 19, 2012

Neighbours are furious that a petrol station is breaking its planning conditions by opening 24 hours a day.

Protesters claim Total in Finchampstead Road, Wokingham has put up a banner proclaiming it is open all day and night, although its planning permission stipulates it must close at 10pm on weekdays and 9pm on Sundays and bank holidays.

The new owners put in an application for 24-hour opening to Wokingham Borough Council on Monday, September 3 saying they need to be on site to counter theft and vandalism. But neighbours claim the pumps and shop are already operating all night.

Ujjwal Dey has logged an objection with the council, stating that customers in cars and motorbikes and forecourt lights are already disturbing him and his wife.

He said all-night sales were attracting noisy customers who were leaving litter everywhere.

Mr Ujjwal said: “They are talking in loud voices, eating sandwiches and chucking their garbage around the area.

“What does grate a bit is that the company has said in its application that there are no residential properties affected but that is not correct.

“There is not really a necessity for a 24-hour gas station in our corner of Wokingham.

“Anybody who stands in this street after 8.30pm will struggle to see a passing car as it is a residential area.

“It is not as if it was a motorway or a major thoroughfare.

“I suspect they will not make their money by selling petrol.”

Leaflets have gone up on trees in Finchampstead Road criticising the application which is set to be decided in early- to mid-November.

In its application to the council, Rontec Service Stations Ltd states the petrol station is operating outside approved opening hours and asks consent for 24-hour opening which it says ‘will cause minimal disturbance to the surrounding properties which are mainly commercial’.

Marcia Head, development management team leader at Wokingham Borough Council, said it was not an offence for people or businesses to do something without planning permission and she was glad the business was seeking planning permission.

She said: “It is irrelevant the fact that they are already doing it.

“It is not a criminal offence. The planning system is not here to punish people.

“Planning does not take into account demand but the impact on residents.”

The owners of Total, Finchampstead Road, were unavailable for comment.

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Most recent user comments 15 of 15

Hehe! And maybe he will...!

Cheers Bobo.

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
19/09/2012 at 16:35

Yeah the zoning of that part of town is a mess. I'm just waiting for Councillor Lee to explain why we are both wrong.

Thanks for the grown up debate Damiano, it's been fun.

Bobo, Wokingham
19/09/2012 at 14:56

I suppose between the petrol station and the Finch-side bridge there is a row of houses (just before the Tesco roundabout) and Tesco, and the other side there's the Warr clinic and a number of homes (behind the Warr clinic, and up the lane next to the bridge). Then on the other side of the road, there's a wine warehouse and pet shop - which close at 8pm - and an entire housing estate...

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
19/09/2012 at 14:47

If it was further up the Finch road I would agree that it is mostly residential, however between the two railway bridges the majority of the land, and certainly the majority skirting the main road, is commercial is it not?

On one side you have an abandoned house and a Tesco, in front Pets at Home and a Wine Superstore, and the Warr Clinic on the other side. That doesn't mean the dude doesn't have a right to complain, I just think you should build your complaint on fact, not fanciful statements like "Anybody who stands in this street after 8.30pm will struggle to see a passing car as it is a residential area" which just isn't true.

I'd be happy to test his theory, if he's happy to rush me to hospital.

Bobo, Wokingham
19/09/2012 at 14:42

Fair enough, Bob.

Maybe it's a matter of semantics... if the options for land are 'industrial, commercial, residential, or green' then it falls into residential more than any other category. Not sure there's a better description for the area than residential, in Mr Ujjwal's defence.

I sympathise with his point - I live in the centre of town, and the amount of noise and litter caused by drunks wandering past is a little annoying. I accept it, because I'm in a town centre and knew what the area was like before I moved in. This gentleman lives in an area which is allegedly changing, without permission, for the worse.

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
19/09/2012 at 14:25

Fair point about putting faith in the council, but let's not be silly; an existing garage opening on a 24h basis is slightly different to Tesco building another 12 stories on their existing three.

As I've said before the rights and wrongs of businesses being able to do this are up for discussion (I suspect the answer to that discussion is "no way Jose"), and is entirely different to the point I was making originally, which is that I don't agree with the picture Mr Ujjwal is painting of that location, and that I would support it being open on a 24h basis.

Bobo, Wokingham
19/09/2012 at 14:11

Hey Bobo.

I wouldn't put too much faith in the line "it was not an offence for people or businesses to do something without planning permission" - those are very ill-thought-out words from one officer at the council (with a grandiose title - she should know better). If Tesco decide to build their (not quite) 24-hr store fifteen stories high 'without planning permission', I'm sure the authorities would have something to say. Or again, if a pub ignored its licencing rules and opened whenever it wanted.

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
19/09/2012 at 13:58

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
19/09/2012 at 13:55

Should this not be more to do with Licensing? As DT said could this mean that other shops decided opening/closing times for themselves and the council don't seem all that interested. What will happen if there is some sort of accident on site which is outside the hours the business has agreed?

Mistwalker
19/09/2012 at 13:48

Nope - stopped being 24h a few years ago.

I'm not suggesting businesses should do what they want, but by all means extrapolate away. Here's the key point from the article:

"it was not an offence for people or businesses to do something without planning permission".

Whether or not it should be an offence is an entirely different argument.

Bobo, Wokingham
19/09/2012 at 13:47

Bobo - isn't there a 24hr supermarket 100 yards away from this petrol station?

Shall we let this businesses do what they want and disregard the rules? All businesses? Maybe local and national government departments, the police etc. should also do what they want and ignore rules?

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
19/09/2012 at 13:25

I think it is disingenuous to describe the Finch road as a residential area, being as it is one of the main routes through Wokingham. It's not as if the garage is boxed in by houses either.

As a local resident I welcome them being open 24 hours.

Bobo, Wokingham
19/09/2012 at 12:22

Do you get the impression that if you're a commercial enterprise you can do just about whatever you like as you're seen to be saving the country from recession and providing local employment? I guess there's more money to be had in the sale of late night Cigarette Papers, Baccy and the odd Choccy Bar.

Woky Local
19/09/2012 at 11:48

Yeah, what PoneRana said - surely there are rules, and punishments for breaking them? If a pub stayed open 24hrs without gaining permission first, you'd expect it to be visited by the police. It's okay for shops to break the rules, though, is it?

By the way, what is a "development management team leader"?

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
19/09/2012 at 11:18

Surely if previous planning permission for the garage restricted the hours of opening then they must be commiting some sort of offence by going outside these hours.