Agenda item

Gillingham South Ward

Conversion of the existing Class (E) retail shop into a Class (Sui Generis) Hot food takeaway, along with the installation of a kitchen extraction system.

Discussion:

The Senior Planner outlined the application for the conversion of the existing Class (E) retail shop into a Class (Sui Generis) Hot food takeaway, along with the installation of a kitchen extraction system.

The Senior Planner brought Member’s attention to the supplementary agenda advice sheet which included three additional objections, and a description change to remove the takeaway aspect.  The details were now:

Conversion of the existing Class (E) retail shop into a Class (Sui Generis) Hot food delivery, along with the installation of a kitchen extraction system.

With the agreement of the Committee, Councillor Nestorova addressed the Committee as Ward Councillor raised the following concerns:

• Although it was important to support local businesses, the location of the premises was of serious and legitimate concern to residents.  If approved, the proposal would negatively impact the safety, wellbeing and quality of life of residents in the local area.
• Concerns were raised regarding the noise and late-night disturbance of delivery drivers which would result in constant disruption to the neighbours.
• Concerns were also raised regarding the proximity of Medway Maritime Hospital and it being a key route for emergency vehicles to have urgent access to the hospital.  An increase in additional delivery drivers or motorcycles, could cause obstructions for those emergency vehicles.
• The storage commercial waste bins would be located at the rear of the property, a waste collection vehicle would not be able to access that area, which would lead to rubbish bags being left on the street or pathways.  There were already issues with litter and fly tipping in the local area, this would just add to that.
• There were parking pressures in the area, which was within a parking zone, and residents were already struggling to find parking spaces.  To add extra cars and delivery vehicles spaces would be limited, or the delivery vehicles would result to parking, irresponsibly, on the double yellow lines.
• Public health concerns – this area of Medway already faced significant health inequalities and fast food was found to be a cause of obesity, poor nutrition and long-term health issues.  There were already a number of takeaways in the area and agreeing to this one would just be adding to the problem.  

The Committee discussed the planning application in detail and supported the Ward Councillor’s concerns of noise and disturbance, the safety of emergency vehicles and the fact that there were already a good selection of takeaways in the area.  They discussed the fact that emergency vehicles needed to be able to focus on road safety and getting patients, urgently, to and from hospital. They did not need the extra burden of dealing with delivery drivers.

Members suggested that it may be appropriate for the premises to be converted to a residential property subject to the necessary planning permission.

Members acknowledged the objections, which they considered confirmed everything about the challenges of this property.

The Service Manager - Development Management clarified that due to the fact that the property had no off-street parking, and the original description was for takeaways, this would mean that customers or delivery drivers would want to park as close to the premises as possible.  This could lead to cars being parked indiscriminately while they collected the food.  He stated that the Planning Team were quite clear that a takeaway, where customers collected their own food, would not be suitable, however, a delivery service could be controlled by the applicant and operator as they would have control where the delivery drivers park.  A proposal was for delivery bikes to park within the solid gated area, which would then not interrupt the traffic or surrounding areas, however, this area could only be accessed by motorbikes or scooters not 4 wheeled vehicles.

As the majority of Members were not in favour of officer’s recommendation of approval, the Vice Chairperson proposed a refusal statement on the grounds of additional noise and disturbance to neighbouring properties.

The Chief Planning Officer clarified that as several Members had raised issues regarding the lack of a Delivery and Service Plan, which would impact the highways and that could be added to the refusal, if Members were minded.

Decision:      

Refused as the proposed use as a hot food delivery service with its associated traffic movement would result in additional noise and disturbance to neighbouring properties, in a predominantly residential area, which would result in significant harm to the amenity of the occupiers

contrary to Policy BNE2 of the Medway Local Plan 2003 and paragraph 135 of the National Planning Policy Framework 2024.

In the absence of a Servicing and Delivery Plan it has not been demonstrated that the proposed use could operate without a resultant harm to highway safety and the free flow of traffic on an important access route into Medway Maritime Hospital, including its Accident and Emergency facility, and is therefore contrary to policies T1 and T13 of the Medway Local Plan 2003 and paragraphs 115 and 116 of the National Planning Policy Framework 2024.