Future Proposals

John and Barbara Dunning opened Tebay Services in 1972, when the M6 was built through their Farm in Orton.

Tebay Services consists of two Motorway Service Areas located on the North and Southbound carriageways of the M6. Tebay North was opened in 1972, with Tebay South following in 1993. After incremental developments over the last 50 years it is now time for a refreshed vision to provide enhanced facilities for our customers and colleagues.

Tebay Motorway Service Area (MSA) was first developed on the northbound site in 1972 following the construction of the M6. Since Tebay MSA first opened it has been incrementally developed.  A more comprehensive redevelopment is now proposed to improve customer experience both now and into the future as well as an energy proposal, to increase electrical capacity to serve the growing number of electric vehicles.

The proposals at Tebay consist of three projects, all of which will be designed to be implemented independently:

Northbound MSA

The Northbound MSA proposals include the redevelopment of the car park (providing segregated parking areas and increased parking numbers), the redevelopment and expansion of the facilities building and the provision of a drive-through at the existing petrol filling station, as well as additional landscaping to soften the areas of hard standing.

Southbound MSA

The Southbound MSA proposals include the redevelopment and expansion of the car park (providing segregated parking areas as well as increased parking numbers), the expansion of the facilities building and the provision of a drive-through facility at the existing petrol filling station, as well as additional landscaping to soften areas of hard standing.

Solar installation

Due to the lack of available energy to the MSA, a photovoltaic solar installation on 2 to 3 field parcels to meet the increasing need for energy to serve up to 18 electric chargers across the MSA.

WESTMORLAND FAMILY

The Westmorland Family, a family owned MSA operator of Tebay; Gloucester and Cairn Lodge Services. All of which feature in Which? Best Service Stations ranking 1, 2 and 3. Each of Westmorland Family’s businesses are champions of their place, produce, people and landscapes with colleagues, producers and their respective communities being integral to the business’s vibrancy and sustainability.

The Need for Development

NORTHBOUND

The Northbound MSA is deficient in providing the required number of parking spaces, specifically for HGVs, for an MSA in this location.  The car park has an inefficient layout leading to poor circulation of vehicles and congestion, compromising safety. There is also a lack of segregation between large and small vehicles which can result in vehicle conflict.  The existing facilities building can be frequently congested, compromising customer demand and experience. 

When comparing the number of vehicle parking spaces against the requirement for a MSA in this location (as required by the Department for Transport), the MSA is deficient in its provision of HGV spaces to meet demand. There is also a need to ensure the MSA provides for the transition to electric vehicles.

The proposals will improve the quality of the environment for customers alongside expanding the back of house facilities to improve the operational space to meet customer demand and improve experience.

SOUTHBOUND

The Southbound MSA is also deficient in providing the required number of parking spaces, specifically for HGVs, for a MSA in this location. In addition, despite similar vehicle flows and numbers of people visiting the MSA, there is significantly less parking at the Southbound MSA when compared to the Northbound MSA. This poses a safety concern due to congestion and can lead to people not stopping at the MSA to take a break due to not being able to find a parking space.

As with Northbound, when comparing the number of vehicle parking spaces against the requirement for a MSA in this location (as required by the Department for Transport), the MSA is deficient in its provision of HGV spaces to meet demand.  There is also a need to ensure the MSA provides for the transition to electric vehicles.

The existing facilities building is a more contemporary model of the Northbound MSA.  Some adaptations are proposed such as a bigger entrance foyer, improved servery and increased toilets are proposed to improve the customer offer particularly during peak times.

ENERGY

There is a growing need to provide additional EV charging facilities to serve Northbound and Southbound MSA. Tebay MSA is at maximum electrical capacity with no additional capacity currently available in the immediate term to increase the energy supply to the MSA.  Due to increasing demand for EV charging provision, alternative energy sources such as solar energy are proposed to meet this demand.

Tebay Northbound and Southbound MSAs would therefore benefit from the proposed redevelopment and additional energy supply to meet the current and future needs of the travelling public.

THE PROPOSALS

Circular 01/22 published in December 2022 by the Department for Transport set out requirements for MSA.  This Policy Paper has assisted in leading the design for Tebay Northbound and Southbound MSAs. Further information on the proposals is set out below.

Northbound

The proposals include:

  • Reconfiguration of the car park to increase legibility and circulation of the car parking area, which will also include the segregation of large and small vehicles to improve safety of the MSA, as well as set out areas for future EV charging. Westmorland already have planning permission for elements of the proposed development to enlarge the HGV and car parking area.
  • Additional landscape planting is proposed to break up the car parking spaces and to assimilate the development into the surrounding area. The building is proposed to be redeveloped in the same location with an extension to the west to allow internal configuration to improve customer and operational experience.
  • A drive-through is proposed at the existing fuel filling station which would include minor alterations to the building.

Southbound

The proposals include:

  • An extension to the car park to provide additional spaces to meet demand both now and into the future.This extension allows additional HGV and coach spaces to be provided, which are segregated from smaller vehicles.  The car park has been designed to also include areas for future EV charging expansion.
  • The proposals include the opportunity for landscaping in the existing and car park extension to break up and blend the development within the wider countryside. An extension is proposed to the facilities building to increase the foyer and servery to improve customer experience.
  • A drive-through is proposed at the existing fuel filling station which would require few external building changes.

Energy Development

The solar development is for a photovoltaic (PV) installation of on 2 or 3 land parcels adjoining/within the MSA, which would serve up to 18 electric chargers across the MSA. The solar installation would include PV panels and associated equipment including transformers and inverters.

The Tebay Toolkit

The Westmorland Family has the following guiding principles to, where possible, inform the design of their motorway service area sites:

Creating a legible, safe, and pedestrian friendly environment;

Ensuring that the design of development relates to its setting;

Including space for trees;

Leading the transition to net zero;

Implementing clear and segregated car and HGV parking;

Using materials that are local to the area where feasible, and using local skills and workforce;

Managing water in a sustainable way; and

Facilitating a biodiverse and natural space.

Environmental Objectives

The impacts of the redevelopment of Tebay MSA and the solar proposals are being considered by environmental and technical specialists as part of preparing the planning applications. A summary of the work underway is set out below:

  • Landscape and Visual Impact Assessments are being undertaken to understand the impact of each of the developments in the local and wider vicinity and, where possible, look to minimise landscape and visual impacts through design and mitigation;
  • Heritage Impact Assessments are being prepared to understand the impacts of any assets in the vicinity;
  • Ecological surveys are being undertaken to identify existing conditions (including habitats and species), what the impact of each of the developments is likely to be and how this can be minimised;
  • Each of the sites comprise land that is provisionally classified as Grade 5 land under Natural England’s Agricultural Land Classification system – Grade 5 land is considered to be poor quality;
  • Each of the sites are located within Flood Zone 1 which is land at the lowest risk of flooding from rivers or sea.  Appropriate drainage strategies are being developed to deal with water across the sites;
  • Highways and transportation work is underway, which will consider access to the land (if not already established) and potential impact of the developments on local roads.
  • Glint and glare from the solar proposals is an important consideration that is being assessed.
  • Finally, from a technical perspective noise and air quality work is being undertaken to ensure a satisfactory level of environmental protection.

How can I find out more?

Click this link to access the local planning authority website which contains all relevant details for all three planning applications for Tebay South, Tebay North and Solar.