New takeaway and restaurant approved for former Chorley butchers shop

Plans for a combined takeaway and restaurant on a busy Chorley street have been given the green light in spite of concerns over parking.
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Chorley Council’s planning committee last month deferred its decision on the proposed venture – to be located in a former butchers shop on Eaves Lane – after members said they wanted to visit the site to see for themselves the potential for traffic problems.

However, they have now granted permission for the eatery after hearing that Lancashire County Council has recently stepped up parking patrols in the area.

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'No way' proposed Chorley takeaway will be given extractor fan permission
Permission has been granted to turn a former butchers on Eaves Lane into a takeaway and restaurant (image via Chorley Council)Permission has been granted to turn a former butchers on Eaves Lane into a takeaway and restaurant (image via Chorley Council)
Permission has been granted to turn a former butchers on Eaves Lane into a takeaway and restaurant (image via Chorley Council)
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Last month’s committee meeting was told that limited spaces at the parade of shops on the street regularly resulted in drivers pulling up in places where parking was prohibited – even if that meant stopping half on and off the pavement where bollards have been positioned to deter drivers from mounting the kerb.

Although highways officers at County Hall had not objected to the proposal, Chorley East ward councillor James Nevett warned that the development could make dangerous parking in the area worse.

He told the latest gathering of the committee of a recent accident less than half a mile away on Eaves Lane caused by similar visibility issues to those he feared would be caused by the proposed outlet.

“There is a risk that it jeopardises the work that’s already being done [by parking enforcement officers]. There is no long-term parking solution available at this property,” Cllr Nevett said.

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However, committee members were unconvinced, with Cllr Aaron Beaver saying: “I don’t think a business should be punished because of people parking illegally.”

Cllr Alistair Morwood added: “There’s not going to be any extra parking – if there’s traffic already there, no-one is going to be able to park. If they can’t find somewhere to park, they will go elsewhere.”

Yunus Jiva, the agent for the application, said that the plans were likely to reduce parking issues during the busiest times of the day, because the outlet would do most of its business of an evening.

However, he bemoaned what he described as a “very onerous” condition – designed to limit noise and disturbance to residential properties – which will require the venue to close at 9pm every night except Saturday, when it would be permitted to open for an extra hour.

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“The flat above the proposed development was granted permission in 2004, aware of its location within a local centre and of its surrounding uses. It would now be perverse for a tenant of that flat to be unaccepting of a use that is typical for a local centre,” Mr. Jiva said.

The committee was told last month that “under no circumstances” would the owner of that flat be prepared to allow extraction equipment to be attached to the outside of his property.

Further details of the installation of such equipment are a condition of the permission granted by the committee, meaning that the business could not operate without it – but Cllr Morwood said it was a matter that the applicant and the resident of the flat would have to sort out between themselves.

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