Another planning application has been submitted this month for the property on the corner of London Road and Stevens Street which has been empty since Wine Rack closed down in November 2009.
Plans to open a PizzaExpress at the site were confirmed in February, however they hit a stumbling block in May when Cheshire East Council refused to grant a change of use for the former off-licence and bookmakers (planning reference 12/0137M).
Perlada Properties has now submitted a second planning application for the change of use of the ground floor from retail to restaurant, with alterations including a new shop front facing London Road, the opening up of the shop front facing Stevens Street and the construction of rear extension.
This recent application is a resubmission of 12/0137M with changes to the arrangements for refuse collection.
It is proposed that a refuse bin store will be located to the rear of the building and the collection of bins will be from the rear of the building leading onto Stevens Street. There will also be an internal waste storage room where the refuse will be stored overnight prior to being transferred to the main refuse bin store during the working day.
This arrangement is being proposed to protect the neighbouring properties from noise and disturbance during the night from activity around the external bin stores.
The operating hours have also been changed so the restaurant would be open from 11.30am to 11pm seven days a week, rather than from 11am to midnight as per the previous application.
The Council refused to grant a change the use of the ground floor in May on the grounds that would have a negative impact on the vitality of the shopping area and was unneighbourly.
According to the decision notice issued in May : "The proposed development involves the loss of a retail unit which would result in a concentration of non Class A1 uses on London Road thereby reducing the dominant shopping characteristics and leading to a loss in the vitality and viability of the shopping area. The proposal is therefore contrary to policy AEC1 of the Macclesfield Borough Local Plan."
It also stated that "The proposed use would cause unacceptable levels of noise to the detriment of the amenities of the occupiers of nearby residential property. The approval of the development would therefore be contrary to national planning policy guidance, Cheshire 2016: Structure Plan Alteration policy GEN7 and Macclesfield Borough Local Plan policies DC3 and DC54, thereby causing harm to the objectives of those policies."
This most recent planning application can be viewed on the Cheshire East Council website by searching for planning reference 12/3615M.
The latest date for submitting comments is 25th October and a decision is expected to be made by 13th November.
The previous application for change of use, reference 12/0137M is currently under appeal by Perlada Properties. Click here for more information regarding this appeal.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
Pizza Express is a family oriented concept which is surely most popular up to the early evening. Therefore is it not an ideal compromise to allow this application with the proposed restriction to opening until 11pm?
Either that or watch London Road decay - there can only be so many charity shops and sadly "affordable clothing shops" and "haberdasheries" as previously called for simply do not have sufficient demand to be viable - that is why there aren't any left.
I question the validity of the various plans referred to which ignore commercial realities and could soon leave us with a very tatty high street.
The Council has informed them that if they wish to apply then they need to resubmit with the fee of £1005, as they have already benefited from two ‘free resubmissions’ on this site.