Agenda item

Application for determination.

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Councillor Williams had declared a personal and prejudicial interest in this application.

The Senior Planning Officer presented his report which detailed an application for the stationing of a hot food vending van in the layby at the top of Innsworth Lane.

He referred to the late material which contained a further representation and an amended recommendation to reflect the hours of operation as amended by the applicant to correlate with his hot food licence.

Don Meechan addressed the Committee in opposition to the application.

Mr Meechan stated that the site adjoined a sports field that would be used by young children who would have to pass the van. The sports field was a Council-run facility and he advised that South Oxfordshire District Council had a policy of not allowing vending within 200 metres of Council facilities.

The Joint Core Strategy proposed a further 1500 dwellings for Innsworth and Longford. Longlevens was already gridlocked at times.

He stated that the site was in a smart residential area and residents did not want such a facility on their doorstep.

He accepted that the van produced no mess but he believed that it was outrageous that a kebab van should be stationed near a sports facility.

He stated that the stationing of the van was causing parking problems.

The Chair noted that the committee had to consider the application purely on planning grounds and asked if there was a policy on the proximity of hot food vending vans to sports facilities.

He was advised that there was currently no policy on exclusion zones therefore the application could not be refused on those grounds.

Councillor Lewis expressed sympathy with the residents but noted that the van within Coney Hill Rugby Club grounds had been allowed upon appeal. In the light of that Inspector’s decision any refusal would expose the Council to the risk of costs.

Councillor Chatterton also sympathised with the residents and noted that the City of Salford had a policy in place which also limited the trading hours of vending vans.

The Senior Planning Officer advised that once the Joint Core Strategy was adopted, City Plan policies could be developed. He advised that quicker methods such as supplementary policy could be adopted but would not carry as much weight as policies which were part of a fully adopted Local Plan.

Councillor Williams referred to her letter of support which was summarised at paragraph 5.3 of the report. She had been disappointed by the untruths in the objections which had upset the applicant.

Councillor Hobbs was advised that the County Council owned the land where the van was stationed and he suggested a temporary permission for twelve months and then the application could be reviewed.

The Senior Planning Officer advised that such a course of action would be difficult to justify as the van had been operating for six months and there had been no formal report of complaints made to Environmental Protection.

Councillor Tracey raised concerns over waste collection and highway safety. She was advised that waste was conditioned by the hot food licence and the Highway Authority had raised no objection.

RESOLVED that permission be granted subject to the conditions in the report with Condition 2 amended as follows:-

Condition 2 (Revised hours)

The use hereby permitted shall only be open to customers between the hours of 16.00 and 22.00 Mondays to Sundays

Reason

To define the terms of this permission and to safeguard the amenities of the locality in accordance with policy BE.21 of the Second Deposit City of Gloucester Local Plan (2002)