Agenda item
85 - 87 New Road, London, E1 1HH (PA/13/01607)
- Meeting of Development Committee, Thursday, 12th September, 2013 7.00 p.m. (Item 7.4)
- View the background to item 7.4
Decision:
Update Report tabled.
On a vote of 1 in support of the Officer recommendation to refuse planning permission, 4 against, and 1 abstention the Committee RESOLVED:
1. That the Officer recommendation to refuse planning permission (PA/13/01607) at 85 - 87 New Road, London, E1 1HH be NOT ACCEPTED for change of use at 85 New Road from shop (A1 use class) to restaurant (A3 use class) with rear extension to provide waiting area, toilets (including one disabled) and seating for the existing restaurant at 87 New Road.
The Committee were minded to approve the scheme due to the following reasons:
- That the shop at 85 New Road was currently vacant and the loss of the A1 retail use was considered acceptable.
- The Committee were not convinced by the evidence that there was an over-concentration of restaurant uses in the area.
- The lack of clear policy guidance in relation to over – concentration of a specific use in an area.
In accordance with the Development Procedural Rules, the application was DEFERRED to enable Officers to prepare a supplementary report to a future meeting of the Committee setting out proposed detailed reasons for approval and conditions on the application.
(The Members that voted on this item were Councillors Helal Abbas, Anwar Khan, Tim Archer, Judith Gardiner, Kosru Uddin and Gulam Robbani)
Minutes:
Update Report tabled.
Jerry Bell (Applications Team Leader) introduced the report regarding 85 - 87 New Road, London, E1 1HH for change of use at 85 New Road from shop (A1 use class) to restaurant (A3 use class) with rear extension to provide waiting area, toilets and seating for the existing restaurant at 87 New Road. It was noted that the Officers recommendation was for refusal.
The Chair invited registered speakers to address the Committee.
In view of the non attendance of the objectors registered to speak, the Chair invited Khalid Bashir to speak in support of the application
Khalid Bashir explained the nature of the business. He reported that the business contributed positively to the local economy. The purpose of the application was to extend the seating area and provide a waiting area. This should help minimise any noise and disturbance from customers outside the shop. He referred to similar conversions in the area for A3 restaurant use. These included cooking facilities and this application was not proposing this.
The applicant had carried out a survey of commercial uses trading in and off New Road. According to these findings, only 11% were A3 uses with only 5 restaurants contrary to the Officers’ survey in the report that suggested that this figure was much higher, 34%.
In response to Members, Mr Bashir explained the plans to link the two units internally and that the adjacent shop had been vacant for approximately 6 months. It was proposed to provided about 25-30 new seats in that unit. It was not proposed to make any alterations to the front of the unit.
Adrian Walker (Planning Officer) presented the detailed report. Mr Walker explained in detail the application. He explained the scope and the outcome of the local consultation resulting in 1 letter in objection, a petition in objection with 21 signatures and 3 supporting petitions with 114 signatures.
One of the main issues for consideration was the loss of a retail unit. Officers considered that this was acceptable due to the number of retail units in the Whitechapel District Centre.
A key issue however, was whether the proposal would lead to an over - concentration of A3 units in the area. In view of this, Officers had also carried out a survey of the commercial units in the area (100 metres along the New Road from the premises). The results showed that there was an over concentration of A3/A5 restaurant/takeaways near the shop (34%) in excess of the threshold for such uses in policy.
Officers explained the method used for their survey and their concerns with the applicants own survey as it covered a much wider area and excluded a large restaurant.
Officers highlighted the negative impact on amenity of a proliferation of restaurants uses. It was also reported that number of similar applications for conversion had been refused on the grounds of over concentration in recent years.
As a result, Officers were recommending that the scheme be refused as it would add to the proliferation of A3 uses on the New Road.
In response, Members noted the benefits of the proposal in supporting the local economy and bringing a vacant unit back in to use. Such enterprises should be encouraged in the current economic climate. Members also questioned whether there was, in practice, an overconcentration of such uses along the New Road having visited the site. Members also considered that there was a lack of a clear policy on this matter and that the application was modest in nature given it primarily sought to extend the seating area and would therefore not harm amenity.
On a vote of 1 in support of the Officer recommendation to refuse planning permission, 4 against, and 1 abstention the Committee RESOLVED:
1. That the Officer recommendation to refuse planning permission (PA/13/01607) at 85 - 87 New Road, London, E1 1HH be NOT ACCEPTED for change of use at 85 New Road from shop (A1 use class) to restaurant (A3 use class) with rear extension to provide waiting area, toilets (including one disabled) and seating for the existing restaurant at 87 New Road.
The Committee were minded to approve the scheme due to the following reasons:
- That the shop at 85 New Road was currently vacant and the loss of the A1 retail use was considered acceptable.
- The Committee were not convinced by the evidence that there was an over-concentration of restaurant uses in the area.
- The lack of clear policy guidance in relation to over – concentration of a specific use in an area.
In accordance with the Development Procedural Rules, the application was DEFERRED to enable Officers to prepare a supplementary report to a future meeting of the Committee setting out proposed detailed reasons for approval and conditions on the application.
(The Members that voted on this item were Councillors Helal Abbas, Anwar Khan, Tim Archer, Judith Gardiner, Kosru Uddin and Gulam Robbani)
Supporting documents: