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DC Casebook: Food and Drink uses - Restraint area stymies restaurant use

Food and drink uses

Planning, 22 August 2008

The change of use of offices and a launderette in a West Midlands shopping centre into a restaurant has been rejected on the basis that the local plan sought to restrain such outlets.

The council's policies supported the location of hot food shops and restaurants in shopping areas provided that their cumulative impact did not unduly harm local residents' amenity or highway safety. The immediate vicinity had been designated an area of restraint because of the cumulative impact of such outlets.

The inspector noted that more than 30 per cent of units in the locality were already in food and drink uses. In the evening, a large number of people were drawn in from outside the area, many of whom were students. The concentration of catering premises had led to noise and disturbance and some examples of antisocial behaviour, he observed.

The proposal could attract 50 further customers and exacerbate this situation, he held. Because there were flats above the premises, he found that the potential for noise and disturbance to occupiers was magnified. Residents would be adversely affected by late-night disturbance, he decided.

DCS Number 100-056-673

Inspector Brendan Lyons; Written representations.