Policy information sourced from Dacorum Local Plan 2004 Alteration

56 Roadside Services

Roadside services should normally be located within towns and large villages.

Exceptionally where a need for additional facilities is proven to the satisfaction of the planning and highway authorities, essential services (i.e. fuel, basic refreshments and associated parking only, but to include comprehensive facilities for all vehicles including lorries) may be permitted to locate outside the towns and large villages. In such circumstances the development must provide some compensating planning advantages, such as reuse of a redundant building, restoration of derelict or unsightly land, or improved traffic flows and reduced traffic in other locations.

Overnight accommodation may be included in roadside service developments if justified by the overall planning advantages of the scheme and a proven need for the proposed accommodation in a roadside location.

Development will not be permitted in the Green Belt or in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty unless very special circumstances arise. No overriding needs are considered to exist that necessitate new service areas on the lengths of motorway in the Borough. The need for essential trunk road services on the A41 T is considered met by the existing Bourne End service area (and its permitted extension) - (see Proposal T15 in the Schedule of Transport Proposal Sites and Schemes).

In all cases design and landscaping, level of activity and ancillary services, visual impact of illumination and advertisement displays must be appropriate to the site’s location, particularly in relation to residential properties and open countryside.

For more information please see the Local Plan