THE M1 motorway's long-delayed first service station is on track to create 100 new jobs and open next year - despite fears that badgers had been holding up work.
Although the original target was to open this summer, developer Applegreen's chief operations officer Joe Barrett said he was "pleased" at current progress at the Ballyskeagh site near Lisburn.
The project, which took 12 years for planning approval to be granted after plans were first submitted in 1999, is the second of four planned service stations by Applegreen in the north.
Its first facility opened at Templepatrick on the M2 outbound section in April, creating 75 jobs and servicing a potential 24,000 motorists a day.
But progress at the other Belfast site has appeared inexplicably slow, with completion of a retaining wall and ground levelling work the only visible developments since site preparation work got under way last year.
There had been some speculation that concern over badger setts had held up progress.
But a spokesman for Applegreen - which commissioned an environment report to satisfy its concerns - insisted yesterday that badgers were "definitely not an issue".
A spokesman for the Northern Ireland Badger Group said local people had voiced concerns about wildlife at the site, particularly since a badger's sett had been discovered "across the road" on the opposite embankment.
"There are definitely badgers active in the area, but we have no evidence that any have been found during the work on the site," he said.
"They are a protected species and a licence is required to remove a sett."
When all four stations are eventually completed, the operator said it will have invested a total of £30 million in Northern Ireland - along with 250 permanent jobs.
"We are pleased at the progress at the M1 site and we look forward to opening our second motorway service area in Northern Ireland in February 2016," Mr Barrett said.
"The new site will also create a significant number of new jobs in the area. We look forward to developing our business even further in Northern Ireland over the coming years.
"Construction on the site in ongoing and once complete, employment will be created for around 100 people."
In addition to a full convenience store, car and HGV fuelling pumps, the 4.8 acre facility will include "extensive parking", fast food drive-thru and children's play area.
The M1 motorway service station - which has the potential to be accessed by 26,000 motorists who use the outbound section each day - will include a "compelling food offering" with well known names such as Subway, Burger King, Chopstix and Lavazza Cafe said to be among the brand mix.
"Applegreen is constantly evolving and has brought many new initiatives to the forecourt market in recent years," a company spokesman added. "It pioneered the first motorway service areas in Ireland and launched the forecourt industry’s first loyalty card scheme."
Established in 1992, Applegreen now has 150 sites across its service station network in Ireland, the UK and US where four service stations have been built on the east coast since April last year.
