Plans for new village restaurant refused

Plans to change the use of an empty retail unit to enable a restaurant or cafe to open in the village centre have been refused.

Brooklyn Holdings applied to change the use of the ground and basement floors off 55 London Road from A1 (shops) to A3 (restaurants and cafes) and retain the residential use on first and second floors.

The building is currently vacant but was most recently used as a charity shop and prior to that occupied by a travel agent. Permission was recently granted for some minor works to the rear elevation that allows the upper two floors to be accessed seperately from the ground and basement levels.

Alderley Edge Parish Council objected to the plans as did 15 local residents and business owners.

The Parish Council stated "Insufficient details have been provided for full assessment. Additionally the cited linear frontage assessment for usage allocation is inappropriate in the local context of Alderley Edge. The village can ill afford another restaurant with the covers that this change will attract and associated car parking need that is already acknowledged as severely stretched."

Local restaurant and business owners objected on the grounds that it would cause noise and disturbance; air pollution from the extraction of cooking and create an imbalance in the village of shops to restaurant and cafes.

Concerns were also raised about deliveries because it was felt that deliveries to the front are not possible because of the parking restrictions and the location of the pedestrian crossing. Also, deliveries and waste removal from the rear are inappropriate because access would be along a private residential road.

One neighbour wrote "The fabric of Alderley Edge has changed significantly in the 10 years that I have lived here, and not for the better. It is increasingly filled with drunken, rude and noisy people, particularly over weekends. I know many villagers share my view that the proliferation of bars and restaurants is not a good thing for the village and is destroying its fabric.

"There are so many bars and restaurants in Alderley Edge; there is insufficient parking for the customers which use the existing provisions, let alone any additional offerings."

Another local resident wrote "The vitality and viability of the shopping area must be protected. The living conditions of the residents of the Avenue and the Alderley Edge village neighbourhood continues to be further changed by those who seek to adapt the existing planning to suit their own financial gain.

"Another restaurant will add further noise in the evenings and into the late night hours where none existed before."

Cheshire East Council refused the application on the grounds that the proposed development "would result in a further concentration of non-A1 uses on London Road. The proposed change of use would reduce the dominant shopping characteristics of the area, leading to a further loss in the vitality and viability of the shopping area. The proposal is therefore contrary to policy DC54 and AEC1 of the Macclesfield Borough Local Plan."

Additionally the application "proposes the introduction of an A3 use within close proximity to sensitive residential uses" and insufficient information has been provided to enable the Local Planning Authority to be satisfied that the proposed development would not have a detrimental impact on local residents through noise disturbance; and sources of odour. Furthermore, no detail of any required extraction and ventilation systems had been provided.

The planning application can be viewed on the Cheshire East Council website by searching for planning reference 16/0222M.

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