Rotherham services
| Road: | M1 at J33 (also accessible to traffic on the A630) (open map) |
| Address: | Land at Junction 33, M1 Motorway Brinsworth Rotherham |
| Services type: | Single site located at a junction |
⚠️ Please note that this service area is not yet open.
This is the services under construction where the M1 meets the A630. For the site on the A57, see Parkway.
Work is underway on a new service area with a strange layout, as it straddles both sides of the M1 at J33. It was designed by Applegreen for Welcome Break, and is scheduled to open in January 2025.
Facilities
Catering: Burger King, Chopstix Noodle Bar, KFC, Pret A Manger, Starbucks, The Good Breakfast, Starbucks Drive Thru, Krispy Kreme, Starbucks on the Go Shops: Waitrose & Partners, WHSmith Amenities: Children's Play Area, Game Zone, Showers Outdoor Space: Picnic Tables; grass verge around car park Charging Points: Applegreen Electric Forecourt: Welcome Break
Trivia and Design
The scheme has a very unusual layout with the HGV parking and amenities positioned to the north of M1 J33. Customer parking and amenities for other motorway users is located to the south of the M1, connected via the existing road tunnel.
The main building would be very visible from the M1; a glass structure wrapped in timber cladding, with the cladding having been added to bring it more in line with Welcome Break's styling. Inside there would be a shop, game arcade and four food outlets along the back wall, with the toilets behind them. In front of them would be the seating and circulation area, with a further three food outlets. There would also be stairs to the mezzanine level, which would have two conference rooms and a remote working hub.
Unusually for an Applegreen-inspired project, the forecourt would be positioned at the other end of the car park. This is a significant deviation from the original plan, which had the forecourt attached to the main building, and had parking all around it, like most Applegreen petrol stations. There is now also space identified for a Starbucks drive thru. A narrow link road would provide emergency access between the M1 roundabout and the main amenity building, based roughly on the existing farm access.
The separate HGV drivers' amenity building would contain separate units for a food offer, a coffee shop, a retail store and a game arcade. It's extremely unusual to have separate facilities like this. This unusual layout with the site split around the motorway allows the traffic flow to be split across two roads, operating anti-clockwise around the junction. This means there is no need to turn right directly across the busy A630. It also reduces the impact on the environment by nestling into a tighter space. The down-side of this seemingly ingenious layout is that no matter whether you are heading north or south along the M1, at some point you would need to turn right around a large section of the busy roundabout, often by driving in a figure of eight. The roundabout was widened to a huge width during 2022, so this will be another service area guarded by a confusing junction.
In total 498 car parking spaces would be provided, including 30 disabled, as well as space for 19 motorbikes, 67 lorries, 15 coaches and 18 caravans (as of 2017). 13 spaces have been identified for electric vehicle charging, although that is subject to change as the demand keeps moving forward. Additional car parking spaces would be provided next to the HGV building. 300 jobs would be created as part of the project, with around £40million being spent.
Planning History
See also: M1 Planning Applications
The land here had previously held planning permission for use as two hotels, a pub-restaurant and a petrol station. With more development opening up in this area, it seemed inevitable that the land would be converted to retail use at some point.
Applegreen went public with their proposal in March 2017, calling it Rotherham & Sheffield Gateway. This was one of many they made to try to break into the UK motorway service area market, before acquiring Welcome Break, and its unusual external layout shows how keen they were to exploit any available land. Under the original assessment, Welcome Break's nearby Woodall services would have been a competitor.
Extra objected to the Applegreen plan, as did the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce. Applegreen took control of Welcome Break in January 2019, and from this point it became clear that they would open it as a Welcome Break service area, rather than their own, with Welcome Break calling it Rotherham services.
In November 2019, the Applegreen Rotherham plan was approved. Rotherham Borough Council were thought to have been won over by the proposed junction improvements, despite some objectors arguing that it would divert investment away from other areas. The detailed plan was submitted to the authority in June 2021 and approved that November.
Work started on the new service area in summer 2023, with HML Construction being the contractor. The brand line-up was confirmed in August 2024, revealing an almost identical setup to nearby Woodall.
Extra Smithy Wood Plan
The approved Applegreen proposal was an effort to overtake a controversial project from Extra.
Extra wanted to build a large service area in the south-west corner of M1 J35, Smithy Wood. Their rekindled enthusiasm for building new services comes following a period of quiet stability, which they needed to recover from the financial uncertainty caused by poor turnover at Derby with Burton and Leicester North and the high investment placed into Beaconsfield and Cobham.
In March 2014, planning permission was granted to Extra by Sheffield City Council. However in November 2014, the plans were put on hold following protests about the 12th century Smithy Wood which would be destroyed by the plans.
Extra maintained that they had studied the area, and that their proposal was the only suitable place where a new motorway service area could be built. This claim was called into question by Applegreen's proposal, made in March 2017. The following September, Extra requested Applegreen's plan be decided upon before theirs.
Under the current regulations, there is no reason why both service areas couldn't be built, but the two operators might not want to be competing with each other. In addition, the planning authorities might not want two motorway service areas to be built, which is made more complicated by the fact the two junctions fall under different jurisdictions.
After Applegreen's plan was approved in November 2019, pressure from the Woodland Trust on Extra rose, and in January 2020 Extra confirmed that they were withdrawing their proposal.
Previous Plans
When the M1 was built in the 1960s, there was provision for a full motorway service area north of J35, at Chapeltown. This was soon cancelled, leading to debate over whether it was needed.
In the 1990s, Roadchef and Extra worked together on a plan to build Hesley services, in the south-east quadrant of J35 of the M1. It was rejected because the land was a green belt area, the council felt that insufficient information had been provided and that a new service area wasn't needed.
Alternatives
| Previous: | Next: | |
| Woodall (14 miles) | Services on the M1 | Woolley Edge (12 miles) |
| Parkway (4 miles) | Services on the A630 | none |
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