News

Alconbury truck stop could be reopened just six weeks after closing down after the Professional Drivers Association (PDA) applied to English Heritage to have the site marked as listed. If the application is successful it would mean no planning permission would be granted at the site, effectively destroying owner Wrenbridge Land's plans to redevelop the Cambridgeshire lorry park.

The PDA's Pat Nicholson  says that until a decision is made on its status as a listed building no planning permission can be granted. And Nicholson says if it is successful it will do the same at Wolverhampton, where the truck park there is threatened with closure. She believes Nightowl could be persuaded to run the truckpark again.

The plight of the essential lorry park took another surprising twist when the Road Haulage Association's (RHA) Chrys Rampley told CM that trade publication Estates Gazette had run an advertisement requesting applicants to run a truckstop in Alconbury. "Rampley thinks the RHA might now meet with Wrenbridge to discuss its plans." No one at the trade association was able to comment on the discussions as CM went to press.

Nightowl MD Murdo MacDonald says: "I don't know what the position is.  I have always said to Wrenbridge that if they want to talk to me I am here. I have a cordial relationship with the MD there. If they want to come back to me they know where I am." A spokeswoman for Huntingdonshire District Council confirms that no planning application has been submitted yet for the development of the Alconbury truckstop. Wrenbridge did not return CM's calls as it went to press.

Wolverhampton truckstop, at junction 1 of the M54, is due to close on 21 December.