Fareham
Fareham
Road: M27 at J11(also accessible to traffic on the A27)
Location: Wallington, Fareham, Hampshire
Authority: Fareham Borough Council
References: P/25/0913/OA
Developer: Welcome Break
Year initiated: 2025
This is the proposed site at Wallington. For the previous plans, see Meon.
Welcome Break began working on a plan for Fareham services, to be positioned at M27 J11, in 2023.
The site would be positioned at a new roundabout to the north of the motorway, next to the failed park and ride site. Drivers would be brought to a petrol station and a drive thru Starbucks, while a long driveway would lead to parking areas with around 500 car parking spaces, 16 caravan spaces, 7 coach spaces and 50 HGV spaces. 30 electric vehicle charging points will be provided, with the provision for at least 50 in the future, though this is likely to change as the pace of technology moves much faster than the planning system. Placing the forecourt at the front is unusual as it was historically considered bad practice: Welcome Break argue that it will stop those only needing fuel from having to travel far
The main building is likely to be similar to that of Rotherham, with glass frontage and an overhanging roof, surrounded by parking areas. Screening areas will be created to the east and north, though these will be off limits to customers, who will instead get a small dog walking area and a hard-surfaced play area. Another screening area will be required by the entrance, where a gas pipe runs underneath, while existing power lines will be re-routed around the back.
Welcome Break say it represents a £50million investment and will create around 250 jobs. A consultation website was created in July 2025, ahead of the first planning application being registered that month. It is likely to be fought by residents, who have campaigned against nearby developments.
The Veolia road will need to be moved to make space for the development. Welcome Break will pay for the congested roundabout at M27 J11, which is the centre of several car-dependent developments, to receive additional traffic lights at the notorious exit from Boarhunt, as well as closing the lay-by to widen the dual carriageway, but stopping short of using that space to create a free-flowing link.
As the site is on the edge of a residential area, some local custom and plenty of local employees can be expected. Some documents suggest they will provide a public footpath to Down End Road, which would be an unusual yet useful feature, as this is a very obvious desire line that would be quicker to walk than drive. More of a concern is that the western end of this footpath is shown to end randomly by the motorway, with a vague suggestion that staff could cycle from there to the nearest railway station. Welcome Break have charitably offered to "propose to work to investigate" providing a safer route along here; in their defence, there's not much they can do as it's not their road, but even so, it's hard to comment on an aspiration that vague.
Rival Truckstop
Separately, 'Electric @ J11 Ltd' sought planning permission in March 2025 for a 165-space Certas truckstop, 66 electric vehicle charging points and a port storage area, accessed off Boarhunt Road. This would border the planned motorway service area and be accessed from the same link road.
This proposal has received much less attention, perhaps because of the lack of community consultation. Its aspirations are similar to Welcome Break's; capitalising on the shortage of HGV parking and charging facilities. If both were approved, they would also need more significant road improvements. Both highway authorities are concerned that this plan proposes no major road improvements.
This plan is utilising land which has been used as a temporary highway depot. The landowner has raised a number of legal concerns regarding Welcome Break's interpretation of the boundary between the two sites.
Planning Context
See also: Meon services
The M27 was designed on the basis that it would need three motorway service areas, of which the centre one was never finished. There was an attempt to open the Whiteley site in 2001, but it was fought by residents. The access to that site, directly from the motorway near J9, was reserved from 1973 until 2018, when all four points were cannibalised under bizarre circumstances.
Despite that, the government has frequently acknowledged that the south coast has a shortage of facilities for HGV drivers, especially at Portsmouth, where the port has no stacking space. An updated government policy, published in 2022, says that motorways must offer HGV parking every 14 miles, whereas on the M27 that gap is 22 miles. Welcome Break continue to use the figure of "90 miles", which they have now clarified to say is because while the A27 does have signposted service areas, these offer "very limited" facilities. Whichever figure you prefer, these are still higher than the government's maximum.
The genuine HGV issue and known charging point shortage aside, this roundabout is used overwhelmingly by commuter traffic, who Welcome Break are known to target with their drive thru coffee shops and convenience stores. They have been on a drive to expand since they were taken over by Applegreen.
The farmland around the M27 has been subject to numerous proposals over the last 30 years, with a new town, new housing estates and new industrial units all likely to go ahead, making the remaining land a soft touch for developers.
Under government policy, to build a service station at a junction, developers need to show that it couldn't have been built directly on the motorway. Welcome Break were easily able to do this by pointing out that the M27's junctions are all too close together to provide a new facility that would meet England's very strict design manual for motorways. They have so far not acknowledged the original Whiteley plan, but it is likely to be a non-starter on several grounds, whereas the Fareham idea is at least technically possible.
None of the M27's junctions are especially suitable for a major service station. Ironically, M27 J10 is currently being rebuilt from scratch: a new service station with a decent entry and exit could have been factored into that project, but as nothing about British planning or infrastructure is joined up, it was never considered. Welcome Break have said the new junction being built there is "convoluted" and couldn't possible accommodate a service area, even though it has plenty of roundabouts. Likewise, Hampshire County Council's long-held ambition to turn M27 J11 into a car sharing site could easily be realised as part of this project, but current government policy makes it difficult for service stations to do this, even if they wanted to. Neither of these points are the fault of the developer, but are a frustration for neighbours and road users.
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