Tanks for the memories

SADDLEWORTH is to lose its last petrol station to a new property development scheme.
Planners have submitted an outline application to Oldham Council to demolish the familiar Scouthead Filling Station on Huddersfield Road and build nine homes and a shop unit.

Dobcross-based Chorlton Planning Ltd, which prepared the planning application for the owners, said the filling station and kiosk are unprofitable and would eventually close regardless of any redevelopment.

“The applicant acknowledges the closure of the petrol filling station will not be welcomed by some. However, the business is simply not well-supported enough by local people to justify its continuation.”

The new scheme proposes properties built in natural stone with slate roofs and a retail unit selling convenience goods.

Saddleworth parish councillor, Robert Knotts, who lives in Austerlands, said: “The filling station’s closure is sad. However, the planning application for housing on the site includes a retail outlet which be a welcomed asset in the community.”