Shell’s new fuel station and shop open on Walton Roundabout

After six months of redevelopment, the new Shell fuel station – including Little Waitrose – opened on Friday, the 9th of December 2022; however, electric car charging points are still to come.

At the back end of 2021, Shell submitted an updated planning application to their earlier plans to bulldoze and completely rebuild their Walton site, including a 4-bay electric car charging station.

After a six month re-development the site opened recently, so we popped along to see what was new!

First off, the former car wash and jet washes have been removed and replaced with a shiny new retail space and that faces the new expansive forecourt.

The retail space is branded as “Little Waitrose and Partners” and is stocked with a range of fresh and frozen goods, soft and alcoholic drinks, as well as a good selection of dry goods. There’s also a “Deli by Shell” and a Costa Coffee machine to keep drivers and passengers fueled up on their travels.

The retail building also houses toilets with facilities for baby changing and those with accessible needs.

There are dedicated parking spaces for the shop, including a disabled/accessible parking space. If you need cash, then the retail building houses an external cash machine, which retains fee-free withdrawals.

The 4 undercover electric car charging bays are all marked up, with power running to the area. However, there aren’t any actual charging points yet. Speaking to the staff, these will come along in the next few months, which is disappointing as it was a big plus for the new service station.

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In terms of fuel provision, there are eight pumps selling a mixture of petrol and diesel, including the V-Power grades.

In addition, there are dedicated HGV bays which are at the front of the forecourt, nearest to the A34.

At this point, it’s important to clarify the flow of traffic on and off the site. HGVs should only access the site directly off the roundabout; the Eccleshall Road entrance, by Walton Chippy, specifically states: “No HGVs”. Other types of vehicle can come into the site from either of the entrances and feed in as necessary.

In terms of leaving the site, the only exit is the one that leads you back onto the A34, it’s clearly marked as “No Exit” should you try and leave by the Eccleshall Road entrance. This means that if you want to head back on Eccleshall Road or south on the A34 towards Stafford, you’ll need to travel along to the Trent Road junction to do a U-Turn.

With Stone now having four petrol stations, will we finally see some downward movement in pricing, which has seemingly remained artificially high compared to fuel stations within 10 miles of the town?

Facilities Summary:

• Eight pumps for cars, motorcycles and vans
• Dedicated HGV flow and pumps
• 4 cover electric car charging points – Not Yet Installed coming in the next few months
• Fee-free cash machine
• Little Waitrose and Partners Store
• Costa Coffee Vending Machine
• Deli by Shell
• Toilets and baby change
• Free Parking