Food and drink use at General Stores, Wrexham

What was proposed

The application sought to change the building from retail use to food and drink use, opening from 4pm to 10pm.

“Description of Development NEWID DEFNYDD ADEILAD O DDOSBARTH A1 (MANWERTHU) I DDOSBARTH A3 (BWYD A DIOD) / CHANGE OF USE OF BUILDING FROM CLASS A1 (RETAIL) TO CLASS A3 (FOOD AND DRINK)”

“Report of the Chief Officer Economy and Planning Proposal Change of use from Class A1 (Retail) to Class A3 (Food and Drink). Hours of opening would be 4-10pm.”

Officer report

The site and surroundings

The corner property is in a mainly residential area near terraced housing, apartments, a church and Victoria school.

“Site Description A corner property located on the junction of Poyser Street and Edward Street. It lies approximately 50m to the west of the junction of Poyser Street and Ruabon Road. The site lies within a predominantly residential area, which is adjoined by terraced housing, an apartment block and the nearby All Saints Church. Victoria school lies just under 150m away along Poyser Street to the west.”

Officer report

Earlier applications

Earlier temporary café permissions were granted, but a later continuation application was refused over residential amenity, parking and congestion.

“Site History P/2015/0492 - Continued use as cafe. Refused 7th December 2015. Impact upon residential amenity (noise and disturbance) and impact upon parking congestion.”

“P/2014/0113 - Change of use of retail premises to cafe. Granted 7th July 2014 (Temporary use until 7th July 2015)”

Officer report

Consultees’ views

The Community Council objected, while highways and public protection officers raised no objections subject to suggested measures and conditions.

“Report of the Chief Officer Economy and Planning Community Council: Objects strongly to the application. Raises concerns that the development would bring a recurrence of the previous problems, which would be significantly worse for a takeaway than for the earlier Café. The Community Council suggests that the application be refuse for the same two reasons as the previous application.”

“Public Protection Officer: No objection but recommend that kitchen extraction details are required to be secured by condition. Also suggest addition of advisory notes relating to Food Hygiene and FOG advice to any decision.”

Officer report

Who spoke

The applicant spoke in favour of the application.

What members discussed

Members discussed settlement limits, parking demand, closing-time wording, temporary permission, school proximity and the need for approved plans.

“Acknowledgement that whilst the applicant had raised a number of points within his presentation, many of those were not material considerations that Members needed to take account of when reaching their decision. • Confirmation that the site was within settlement limits, so development was therefore considered acceptable. • Members noted the possibility of customers arriving at 9.59pm, which could result in service continuing beyond 10pm.”

“It had been suggested that a temporary permission be granted, however, as an investment in cooking and extraction equipment would be required, it was felt unreasonable to expect the applicant to incur the cost if the permission was only temporary. • It was acknowledged that although the premises was close to a school, primary age children were unlikely to travel unsupervised and therefore unlikely to…”

Minutes

The committee’s decision

Permission was granted in line with the officer recommendation, with revised conditions controlling plans, opening hours, ventilation and biodiversity.

“RESOLVED – That permission be granted in accordance with the Officer’s recommendation, subject to the following revised schedule of conditions, including an additional condition referring to approved plans and documents and an amendment to the opening hours condition to require that no customers be permitted on the premises outside of the permitted opening times:”

“The development hereby permitted shall be commenced before the expiry of five years from the date of this permission.”

Minutes