Fast Food Planning Permission

[trevorha1]

I own a long lease on flat above an empty shop. When I moved in, the shop was a solicitor's office (use A2). Now the owner of the building wants to change its designation to A5, so that the empty shop can be used as a restaurant. He also wants to build a ventilation system.

A restaurant would decrease the value of my property, put up insurance costs, be dangerous, detrimental to my health and my kids health...and it would also be very noisy, dirty and smelly!

I want to object to this change of use (many of the neighbours object too). What sort of chance would he have of pushing this through and is there any special approach I should take? I have a concise, bullet pointed list of issues, but how should I present this to the council. I have 21 days to object.

Any help gratefully received.

Thank You

[NazNomad]

"A restaurant would decrease the value of my property, put up insurance costs, be dangerous, detrimental to my health and my kids health...and it would also be very noisy, dirty and smelly!"

I think you'd have to prove all of the above, as that is indeed your argument against it.

[bednobs]

i think you can only write to them (as far as i know) you may even be able to do it by email.
In my opinion only, you need to focus not on how this will affect you as a person/property owner, but how it will affect the area. Are there lots of other eating establishments already?

[boxtops]

The Council will have a process for objecting to planning applications, you need to follow that to the letter (we did this when They wanted to build a 3-storey block of flats in the field behind our house, and planning application was refused, it does work).

[buildersmate]

Concentrate on the noise, smell, late night nuisance aspects of the proposed change of use - not the potential that it may devalue your property.
Quantity of objectors does make a difference.
Get them to write individual letters, not a petition-style of objection. Maybe assist those who would write a letter but struggle with the motivation by providing a news-sheet to them, highlighting the issues objectors could mention.

[scotman]

Depends on the type of restaurant proposed. Late night opening, take away etc. Count up the other similar businesses in the area, this may suggest the local area does not need another restaurant.
I can't see the dangerous, dirty etc going anywhere before it has opened as restaurants do not have to be any of those things.

[bednobs]

actually, i agree with naz - how do you know it will increase insurance? in what way will it be detrimental to you health? How will it be dangerous?

[jackthehat]

There will be issues with;
increase in vehicular traffic,
increase in pedestrian traffic,
increase in 'late-night noise pollution',
possible post-pub flash-points,
increase in littering.

Throw in the phrase 'loss of amenity'............which you will experience in terms of privacy, use of space outside your flat, etc.

[bushbaby_de]

Decreases to property value or increases in insurance costs are not material planning considerations so putting these in your letter won't acheive anything I'm afraid.

Noise, smells and fumes from ventilation to a residential property can count against this kind of proposal, as can loss of outlook/amenity if the flue would be right outside your window.

Your local planning authority will also have a policy for change of use to A3 which will tell you what they consider in terms of numbers in the local area so that might be worth a look as well - for example where I live 50%of a row of shops has to stay as A1 use and if there is already A3 on either side, the one in the middle isn't allowed to change to A3 as well - you need to find out your local version of the policy.

As others have said, ask each neighbour to write their own objection letter. But also find out if your planning department has a policy on petitions - some council's say that a petition over a certain number of signatures automatically sends the application to the planning committee, in which case you might want to do a petition as well as the letters.

[Eve]

Note that potential issues may not resilt in a refusal but conditions to make sure the problems are minimised so bear this in mind. If an issue is solveable then it may just warrant a planning condition eg ventillation systems, opening hours...

Look at the area in general when raising issues rather than just your property. Is is predominantly residential so that there would be disturbance caused by a late night takeaway? A law firm is different as no late night disturbance and not so much traffic generated, parking required etc...

You could look at issues such as whether there is sufficient parking for traffic associated with a fast food takeaway.

Might be an idea to look on some local authority websites as many have planning applications and decisions on there and it might give you some ideas and guidance as to the kind of issues raised, investigated and decisions made and the departments involved eg health & safety, environment, highways...

You could also have a look at the local authority Local Plan to see if there is anything useful in there. There is often a link to it on the local authority website.

[trevorha1]

Thank you all so much for your help. Any further advice, much appreciated

[bushbaby_de]

Trevor, all you need to do is outline why you want to object to it. Whether or not its in accordance with the proper planning of the local area etc etc is the planning officer's job - try not to worry yourself too much or make it into much more work than it needs to be :)

[trevorha1]

Oh Bushbaby, I AM so worried. Life would be intolerable if this is passed :-(

I'm thinking of getting a Planning specialist solicitor in to fight my corner.

[boxtops]

Contact the planning officer first, as suggested - any objections will have to be on their proper forms so you need to obtain those whilst you are consulting anyone else as you have to get the objection in during those 21 days - you should find details of the forms and the objection process on your council's website.

[bushbaby_de]

Trevor - I would suggest for a change of use of a single unit that a planning solicitor is WAY overboard.

Boxtops - there is no required form to receive a first objection on - you just write or email the correct address. The forms are for registering to speak if it goes to committee. I would imagine, given that Trevor lives in the flat above the unit, he has received a consultation letter telling him what to do.

Trevor - I am a planning officer so feel free to ask any technical questions you like.

[trevorha1]

Thank you so, so much for your help Bushbaby. A couple more questions

1) Would I have any case to object under Article 8 of the Human Rights Act (the right to family life). Or would you be put off by this?
2) Is it possible that this application could be rejected outright if there is significant opposition (and how many neighbours would constitute that?)
3) Both local residents associations are against the application - would a letter from them help sway things my way?
4) A change of use from A2 to A5 was approved in 2008 for an establishment 5 doors away - should I mention this in my objection? Would it help my case to say "enough is enough" or would that put you off? Would that come across as too aggressive or that I was telling you how to do your job.

Thank you again

[bednobs]

are you seriously saying that having a takeaway in your street is against your human rights?

[boxtops]

Thanks bushbaby, glad to be corrected on that point, it's been a while since I was involved in an objection. Your technical input on this one is going to be useful, I'm sure!

[trevorha1]

Hi Bednobs - I saw article 8 of the human rights act mentioned as a factor on a report for a similar planning application. I wonder if it is a standard consideration.

[bednobs]

really? I' surprised, but if you think it would help you should go for it. I have been thinking about your question today a bit, and while a lot of your objections surprised me and seemed very over the top i tried to honestly ask myself how i would feel if it was next door to me, and can answer that i wouldn't like it at all, and would probably use the same arguements

[bushbaby_de]

1) The only time I have ever entertained a Human Rights Act-based objection was when someone had a chronic and terminal illness and the quality/length of their life would be shortened by prolonged aggressive building noise next door. For the average person on the street a HRA argument for a straightforward proposal is likely to be thrown straight out so I would avoid possibly undermining the credibility of your other objections unless you have a genuine HRA concern.

2) An application cannot be refused just because of the number of objections but a large number is likely to attract the attention of ward councillors and cause the application to go to committee rather than be decided by officers. This will depend on your own council's policy on call-ins and delegations.

3) An objection from the residents association can carry some weight and again can cause an application to go to committee - again this depends on your own council's rules.

4) By all means mention the close proximity of other premises and particularly highlight if these cause you any problems but don't go off doing a local area survey or anything like that! As I said before it helps if you know what your local policy says about takeaways - in the example i gave before an objector could validly point out that as there are already x% of takeaways on one parade it is directly contrary to policy.

Any other Qs, just let me know. Good luck.