Traffic and flood concerns over planned petrol station in Carlisle
The proposed station would be on Warwick Road
Last updated 8th Dec 2025
More residents have raised concerns that a proposed petrol filling station and coffee shop in Carlisle will increase the risk of flooding and make existing traffic congestion in Warwick Road worse.
Banners to raise awareness of the planning application, which has been lodged with Cumberland Council for a site next to the existing Lidl store and Shiny car wash, have been placed on Botcherby Community Centre in Warwick Road and the surrounding area.
The proposed development is intended to serve passing motorists along Warwick Road, rather than drawing trade from Carlisle City Centre.
The application was prepared and submitted by Atticus Planning on behalf of EG On The Move and the proposal includes: a petrol filling station, a retail shop within the kiosk building, and a drive-through coffee shop next to the Lidl store in Warwick Road.
However, Dave and Babs Israel live just a few doors away from the site and Dave said local residents were opposed to the proposal.
They have been flooded twice in the past and Dave said his concerns included highways issues, flood risk as well as the impact on biodiversity. He added: “It’s a soakway and the drains around here have blown off twice during heavy rains and flooded this road and stopped people from getting in and out of town.”
He also questioned the need for another petrol station and coffee shop in the area when there were other facilities nearby and added: “We should be taking people into town to go shopping rather than keeping them on the outside and keeping more traffic on this road.”
Babs said she was also concerned about traffic and said: “Since they built the lights, it’s like a it’s like a mad dash to beat the red light at the bottom so people are speeding the minute they come over the Petteril Bridge.”
Lee Anderving who also lives in Warwick Road, said he was also concerned over road safety issues and he feared someone could be seriously hurt or even killed. He added: “That junction there is going to be a nightmare.”
He said it was inevitable there would be accidents. He said: “The same thing will inevitably happen on the junction for the new development. And that is my only main concern.”
Clive Beck said he has lived in the area ‘on and off for over 70 years’ and there were three key issues: traffic, flood risk and whether or not there was a need for such a development.
He added: “It’s a petrol station. There’s going to be a fuel tanker making a delivery at least once if not more per day. That will mean at extra hazard, because that will be an articulated truck turning right or left, but particularly turning right, and they require a wider road than it currently is.”
He said that putting petrol tank storage tanks in that ground would raise the groundwater level. He said: “It will undoubtedly affect the ground level of water in this area. And the third point is we don’t actually need a petrol station or a café here.”
Neil Cunningham from Victoria Road said it was the wrong location and added: “Of all the places not to put something, that’s it, that’s the one place you should not put it.”
Botcherby Community Centre manager Helen Fisher said she was pleased that people were aware of the issue following publicity in the media earlier this week.
She added: “I think the response has been overwhelming and the fact that people, so many people, are against and opposing the planning application.
“They’ve got so many concerns about the fact that somebody’s wanting to build on a floodplain, which is ridiculous. The services that they’re offering, they’re already here in the vicinity and it’s just not needed.”
Councillor Robert Betton (Botcherby, independent), who has been helping concerned residents since the plans were first lodged with Cumberland Council, said he was concerned about the volume of traffic and there were not enough pedestrian crossings.
He said he was also concerned are about the biodiversity in the field area. He added: “It is a soakaway and it’s a habitat for nature because they found out there’s newts now there.”
Cllr Betton said he wanted to represent residents views and added: “I am their voice and I am an elected member. They are instructing me.
“Everybody is telling me ‘Rob, help’, so I’m helping the best way that I can. I was voted in not to be a yes person. It’s a role to challenge.”
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has previously contacted the applicant’s agent but there was no response.
The proposed site is approximately 0.75 hectares in size and is located within the boundary of the Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site Buffer Zone and is within Flood Risk Zone 3a.
The applicant has cited the need for the development to be located close to a strategic highway network as essential due to the nature of the proposed development.
The proposed development is expected to support and strengthen its role as a key, strategic allocation, providing convenience facilities and transport infrastructure for its staff, visitors, and residents.
The development is also anticipated to deliver employment opportunities through both its construction and operation.