By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
A disused car rental garage based on a prominent site at the edge of Mansfield town centre could be given new life as developers put forward plans to bring it back into use.
The old Europcar rental building, at the junction of Stanley Road and Nottingham Road, has been empty for several years and has not been open since before the pandemic.
Works have been underway on the site in recent weeks to give the land a facelift.
And now a Mansfield-based company called High Oakham Service Centre has confirmed it plans to turn the land into a car service and MOT centre.
The proposals, submitted to Mansfield District Council this month, state the building would be used for car servicing, maintenance, repairs and MOTs to be carried out by trained professionals.
Documents confirm three staff members would park outside 192 Nottingham Road next to designated MOT bays, as agreed with the site’s landlord, while one staff member’s moped would be parked inside the workshop.
The company adds it expects deliveries of parcels or parts to the site “on a daily basis, two to three times a day”.
But it says any deliveries to the site would be made in the workshop, with the company not expecting delivery vehicles to park up for “long periods of time”.
The documents add: “Customers will have set time slots and will be no more than 15 minutes parked on the street in parking bays.
“Their vehicle will be moved to the internal working bay for the service, repair or MOT to be carried out.
“There will be no noise from the workshop as all equipment and machinery has been made air-less and runs on electricity.
“Opening hours are stated as Monday to Saturday, 7.30am to 7.30pm, and Sunday 10am to 4pm.
“We have had to specify to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency a 12-hour window to carry out any annual safety inspection MOTs, therefore we propose to operate between these hours in peak times of the year.
“[This is] usually the end February to the end of August.”
If approved by the council, the new business would be based on the A60, one of the busiest routes into Mansfield town centre and close to the Mansfield Leisure Park retail area.
This retail area includes Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Odeon, McDonald’s, Nandos, Bella Italia and Apollo Bingo.
Planners on the council are expected to review the plans later this year.
