Service station to open in July

PUMPED UP: Groundworks are under way for the new Z service station to be built at 186 Glasgow St. The outlet is scheduled to open in July. PHOTO/ STUART MUNRO 040515WCSMZ1

Another service station is expected to open for business in about five months in Wanganui with groundwork already under way for the new Z outlet in London St.

Work on the $3 million project began on Monday and the contract, in the hands of local firm WW Construction, is now in its excavation phase prior to foundations being laid.

The site is in London St, between Victoria Ave and Glasgow St and was previously occupied by a block of buildings housing light industries. Those have since been demolished.

Jonathan Hill, communications manager for Z Energy Ltd in Auckland, told the Chronicle the new station was scheduled to open in July and will have four lanes with three fuel dispensers in each, with diesel available on all lanes.

Half of the lanes will be on the forecourt with two other self-service lanes to one side. There will also be a LPG "swap and go" station

"It will have Z's full espresso coffee service along with our bakery in the small retail shop next to the forecourt," he said,

Mr Hill said there would also be a forecourt attendant on site every day between 10am and 5pm "to provide the service that customers now expect from us".

He said there would be six to eight staff working at the service station once it opens, and it will be open from 6am to 10pm daily.

Access will be via an entry and exit crossing at the Avenue end of the site. There is also a left-turn, exit-only crossing at the other end near the Glasgow St intersection.

The Wanganui District Council had granted resource consent to Wallace Developments in June last year for the station on a site zoned "outer commercial" which means a service station activity is permitted there.

Creation of the Z outlet comes soon after BP Connect opened its new outlet further along London St opposite Springvale Park.

At the time the BP outlet opened, two other BP stations - on the Fitzherbert Ave-Carlton Ave corner and in Victoria Ave - closed.