Dip plan for truckstops
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. The Government plans to open the floodgates on hundreds of extra motorway service stations by relaxing the planning rules.
Transport Secretary Malcolm Rifkind wants to allow developers to build small restaurants and truckstops without having to go through the DTp approval process which currently regulates the size and frequency of service areas. Instead, they would simply have to gain local authority planning permission. The Governement has been criticised by trade associations and unions for the lack of service areas. They are supposed to be sited every 48km, but there are much larger gaps in the network of 44 service areas, such as the 320km between Folkestone and Birmingham.
The FTA welcomes the DTp proposals "if it means more, reasonably priced services for lorry drivers".
Rifkind says: "Motorway service areas have been centrally planned and controlled since the inception of the motorway network. Provision of MSAs has failed to keep pace with the development of new motorways." The Government wants responses to its document by 20 March.