Plans for cafe bar on Trafford Road approved

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Plans for a new cafe/bar to open on Trafford Road have been approved.

Mr Kaushik of Anfield Ltd applied to develop the empty unit at 6 Trafford Road into a licensed premises, occupying both the ground floor and basement level with the rear yard used as a beer garden.

However, in the interest of neighbouring properties, one of the conditions to be imposed is that the back yard cannot be used by members of the public, except for access by wheelchair users.

The hours of operation are limited to 8am until 5pm on Monday to Saturday and 10am until 4pm on Sundays and public holidays.

Cheshire East Council received six letters of objection from neighbouring residents and business owners who raised concerns regarding increased noise levels, increased amount of litter and a lack of parking in the area.

Alderley Edge Parish Council recommended refusal of this planning application, saying "The site is wholly unsuited to A3 use, being in a block of retail and office units and adjacent to residential properties which have A3 units behind them, fronting to London Road. Such a development would damage the residential amenity of those neighbouring properties, and potentially damage the other non A3 businesses around it.

"The proposed refuse collection point is wholly unacceptable, being in a narrow residential street of mews houses and terraced properties. Access is a major issue, with parking both on and off the street leaving no access for any sort of refuse vehicle. The disturbance to those residences would be unacceptable."

The plans were approved because "the proposal complies with the relevant policies of the Development Plan and is considered to be acceptable" because it has an acceptable relationship with adjacent buildings, an acceptable impact upon the amenities of neighbouring properties and the visual impact of the proposal on the character of the area is considered acceptable.

The planning application can be viewed on the Cheshire East Council website by searching for reference 12/2368M.

Tags:
Cheshire East Council, Planning Applications
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Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Brian Etchells
Tuesday 14th August 2012 at 4:57 pm
So Cheshire East approve a cafe/bar to open during the day not evening and no outdoor seating.

Good luck Mr. Kaushik. Not sure if Alderley Edge Parish Council actually want businesses to prosper in the village, maybe if Mr. Kaushik was called Mr. Tesco or Mr. Costa they would not have objected.
Emma Arkelaos
Tuesday 14th August 2012 at 7:31 pm
Would be a good addition if they offered a place for children to play, Fruitcake sadly missed for children.
Steve Savage
Wednesday 15th August 2012 at 9:05 am
I'm not anti kids Emma as I have a 2 year old myself, however I can't see the business giving over valuable table space so that kids can play whilst their parents chat and nurse a latte for a couple of hours.
Sarah Lane
Wednesday 15th August 2012 at 10:13 am
A cafe bar is not the place for children to 'play', best take them to the park for that. Then after they have been on the park they could sit nicely at the table in the cafe and enjoy a drink and snack.
Emma Arkelaos
Wednesday 15th August 2012 at 11:33 am
Park is all well and good but often dogs let loose, no toilet facilities and also th weather! Even Library is difficult as people sit reading the papers and often looked disappointed if children make a little noise.
Alderley Edge is in need of a place indoors where children can be children and not expected to be little statues or mini adults sipping their cappucino.
Steve Savage
Wednesday 15th August 2012 at 12:29 pm
All well and good Emma, however this is a business that needs to generate a profit for its owner to make it sustainable. I went into Fruitcake just the once... I was completely put off by number of children running around whilst the mothers all chatted away oblivious to everything. The other issue was all the mess created... who wants to sit at sticky tables looking at bits of half eaten food strewn all over the floor? As for the park... I often take my little girl to the many parks locally...dogs aren't alowed in the designated play areas and a bit of rain never killed anyone... the fresh air and exercise can only be a good thing.
Sarah Lane
Wednesday 15th August 2012 at 12:43 pm
Yes I agree but that place is not a cafe bar. Children can sit nicely at the table with adults and enjoy a drink without expecting them to be little statues or mini adults. Trouble is not everyone likes to see children running around in a confined area when food and drinks are being served. Saw it myself last week when adults were to busy chatting to see their children hanging off the backs of others chairs, getting under feet of staff carrying heavy trays full of hot food and drinks and just generally not being respectful to everyone else. You don't have to be anti children to find all that annoying. A cafe bar is a good place for them to learn sometimes you have to behave well, sit down for a little while to enjoy a drink and food with adults and not need toys/games entertaining the second you get through the door.
Emma Arkelaos
Wednesday 15th August 2012 at 12:45 pm
In many establishments where children are encouraged to visit there is usually a designated area for children and families to sit. My children go to the park most days as we are very close and people often have dogs in play area around climbing frame and slide.
There are many many establishments for adults to sit for a quiet drink, why should there be no provision for children????
Steve Savage
Wednesday 15th August 2012 at 1:30 pm
Hi Emma...you've managed to persuade yourself this is a good idea.....now go and see what your bank manager thinks! :) I have no issues with children in restaurants and cafes, indeed I take mine out at least once a week. I do however expect her to sit down and behave. I don't feel the need to take toys, give her crayons etc as she is happy if she feels part of the proceedings.
Emma Arkelaos
Wednesday 15th August 2012 at 3:29 pm
You obviously have a model child who does not get a little bored, I have 4 children who also eat out at least once a week in a whole variety of restuarants, not McDs or wacky establishments, i hasten to add. I am simply stating children should also have the choice of an establishment where they can eat and drink and be a child.
Steve Savage
Wednesday 15th August 2012 at 4:29 pm
They do have a choice Emma.... there is the park, Mcd's, Wacky warehouse etc. You will find that well behaved kids are welcomed in most other places though. :)
Emma Arkelaos
Wednesday 15th August 2012 at 4:37 pm
We frequently go to other places in the village as a family, i am merely stating as the hours are limited to daytime hours it could be an idea to be a more child friendly cafe/ bar in the locality.
Brian Etchells
Wednesday 15th August 2012 at 4:49 pm
Maybe, nice as it would be to have a child friendly cafe/bar in the village, that sort of facility simply does not make economic sense. Do the sort of establishments that are child friendly attract the people that will spend the most money?
Sarah Lane
Wednesday 15th August 2012 at 4:52 pm
Why does a child have to be classed as a model child just because they have been brought up to behave in a public place, cafe... restaurant or wherever. They can still be little so and so's but just know its best to behave when enjoying a meal out. Children can be a child in their own home, the park, or a child's play center and then be part of their family in joining them sitting at the table to enjoy drink/food. There should be no need for separate eating areas for adults with children if they were taught/shown how to behave in public from very early days. Nothing should be separate, they should be included in every aspect of eating out and that includes not offering them junk food all the time, instead offer them small portions off an adults menu. It's a lot easier to be firm from the start, saves endless dirty looks and stress for yourself if they know what's expected. Must be hell to take a child out who is forever out of their seat, disturbing yourself and everyone else and needing endless toys and colouring books to keep them quiet.
Emma Arkelaos
Wednesday 15th August 2012 at 5:35 pm
Why is there such an assumption if you want a child friendly place you have children who have no manners and do not know how to behave???
It is often the views of other adults who do not want any children around them regardless of how well they behave.
My children do have manners, respect and understand how to behave appropriately in differing social situations.
Steve Savage
Thursday 16th August 2012 at 10:01 am
I think you miss the point Emma... your first post suggested that you wanted a place for children to play. Cafes and restaurants are there to provide food and drink to people of all ages (including children!)in a social environment... they aren't there to be adventure playgrounds for kids.
Steph Walsh
Thursday 16th August 2012 at 10:36 am
I never quite understand, let alone share, people's wishes for additional facilities offered by retail outlets that have nothing to do with such requests. A space for children (or cats/dogs/older people/knitting group/reading group) in a shop is not a given. To expect, or even wish, for a café to offer such facilities is disingenuous. Fruitcake went because it was used as a crèche by people who occupied tables for several hours at a time, whilst spending less than a tenner.

As we said before, rents in Alderley are exorbitant (55 London Road is up for rent at £40,000 per year people, that's forty grand, rent-only). No business should be expected effectively to 'rent out' table space for virtually no return to its patrons. Unfortunately, this is precisely what happens when groups of mums spend four hours in there at a cost of a latte. Coffee chains can afford the loss (debatable), independent outlets cannot.

What has also been thrown into the mix here is also a separate issue of anti-social behaviour. The state of tables, floors and chairs regularly found in places such as Costa and similar outlets in Alderley (and elsewhere, such as Wilmslow and Knutsford) on counts of being visited by children is a form of anti-social behaviour not much dissimilar to finding dog poo in the park or on the streets. I harbour no hard feelings towards that business owner who, at a rate of £3000+ per month in rent alone, has to clean up the mess many times a day, while making a fiver in the process and thus decides to discourage, in any shape or form, such patrons from visiting. Cafés in France, Spain, Italy and many other countries do not offer kid-specific facilities; children are treated as adults there and the result is that that experience is civilised for everyone involved.
Brian Etchells
Thursday 16th August 2012 at 11:13 am
Well done Stephen, I think that needed to be said!!!!! I am a primary school teacher, I actually like children but i don't want them running around making a huge noise whilst I drink my caramel latte with extra shot and eat my Panini wondering who is in charge of the children. Prividing a child area is just an encouragement for them to play. Children play noisily, that is what they do. So please can we have the cafe in the park, l,et them be noisy there and will enjoy my Cappucino in the adult only cafe on London Road.
Steph Walsh
Thursday 16th August 2012 at 11:37 am
Thanks Brian, but I'm actually female, haha!
Brian Etchells
Thursday 16th August 2012 at 4:00 pm
Sorry Steph. Just passed Aldeli. 3 mums 5 toddlers 3 lattes. Maybe the cafes/ bars could charge an entrance fee per child under 10?
Mark Dermody
Thursday 16th August 2012 at 8:28 pm
"The state of tables, floors and chairs regularly found in places such as Costa and similar outlets in Alderley (and elsewhere, such as Wilmslow and Knutsford) on counts of being visited by children is a form of anti-social behaviour not much dissimilar to finding dog poo in the park or on the streets"

Steph my children are well behaved but they may, from time to time, spill food (as I do), are you serious when you compare this to a dog defecating in a public area??

For the record I have now preference in relation to any of the other points raised I wish the people starting the business every success.
Steph Walsh
Friday 17th August 2012 at 9:02 am
Hi Mark, fear not, I am not talking about anyone 'from time to time', spilling the odd bit of food here, by any stretch of anyone's imagination. I am talking about tables and chairs left in pigsty-like conditions, with spilled milk and sticky juice on said table, smashed blueberries and cornflakes, bits and pieces of muffins on chairs and various other sundries such as wet tissues, napkins and assorted mess strewn across the floor. That is anti-social and an all too common occurrence in many local establishments. A cafe is not a nursery and, frankly, I wouldn't think that would be acceptable in a nursery either.

If a few more people adhered to the old adage 'leave a place as you would wish to find it', any cafe and its patrons would benefit. Additionally, I do not quite believe that, in a sense, there are 'badly behaved children' out there (maybe there are, but that's when they are much older!)... What's a toddler gonna know, right? I think that there are only badly behaved parents who seem to think it's ok to leave a place in such a state because the Costa (or whatever) girl can clean it.
Steve Savage
Friday 17th August 2012 at 9:11 am
Mark, as a former cafe owner myself, Steph is spot on with her comments.
Kirsteen Peel
Friday 17th August 2012 at 2:18 pm
Steph I couldn't agree with you more - Costa in particular is sometimes such a noisy, messy place that I have bought takeaway coffee and sat in my car to drink it! Whilst there are other coffee shops in the village, Costa is my favourite and I feel rather miffed when this happens. When Fruitcake was trading, unsurprisingly this didn't occur, so although I never went in there, I miss it for this reason!

I am certainly not anti-children but it should be possible to have a peaceful cup of coffee in a coffee shop and the parents of the children causing the disruption should know better.

To return to the subject of the article, I'm not sure this is an ideal location but I wish the proprietors well in their new venture.
Dominic Brown
Friday 17th August 2012 at 5:05 pm
I wonder if those opening times are sufficient for the owners, it looks like its definitely in the bracket of a cafe rather than a bar. In any case I just hope it is a success.
David Grundy
Monday 20th August 2012 at 9:41 am
You are spot on Dominic,i happen to be the guy who was going to take the lease but have pulled out due to the reduced hours,no licence and no use of back garden.Having over 20 years expierence in the hospitality industry and being from southern hemesphere i was going to bring a very relaxed small cafe/bar where local people could relax with a drink away from the hustle of london rd,I feel the attitude in this country is that every licencensed property is going to be a booze barn and create problems maybe the powers should spend some time down under and see how community based cafe /bars bring people together.As for the kids issue i would have allowed kids in untill 6pm as generally clientele and atmosphere changes after that sort of time.p.s whoever Steve Savage is i agree with you all the way.
Brian Etchells
Tuesday 21st August 2012 at 2:20 pm
Sorry to here that David. I hope that anyone from Alderley Edge Parish Council or Cheshire East Council reading this is satisfied with themselves.

As I said before, if this proposal had been from a larger chain and not an independent, it would have probably got through with no restrictions.

Thanks for trying, be assured, there are some residents of Alderley Edge that support the small independent shops.
Dominic Brown
Wednesday 22nd August 2012 at 2:38 pm
Very sorry to hear that David. Establishments like yours are what brings communities together in this day and age and I'm very sorry you were not given the support you needed. It does very much sound like the situation offered to you was impossible, it's difficult enough keeping a business open now let alone with restrictions from day one. Hopefully we have not heard the end of this story.