‘UNINSPIRING BRICK FACADE’
Planners slam design of new food venue
PLANS to open a new food and drink venue in a city neighbourhood have been thrown out.
An application had been submitted to create an eatery in Fell Street in Smallthorne.
Families living in the area had lodged objection to the plans, claiming it would exacerbate existing problems with anti-social behaviour and traffic. Now planning officers at Stoke-on-trent City Council have refused permission for the venture.
The proposal would have seen a single storey structure built in Fell Street for the new food and drink venue. It was not specified whether the business would operate as a restaurant or as a café, but it was intended that most customers would eat inside rather than buy takeaway food.
The plans included a 16-space car park, which would be open to the local community as well as diners. Three full-time and two part-time jobs would have been created as a result of the venture.
Planners said the development would have negatively affected nearby residents by creating ‘an unavoidable increase in traffic, activity, noise and odour’. They said householders living close to the premises would have to look at a ‘bland, uninspiring brick facade’.
A decision notice sent to the applicant said he had failed to identify these impacts in the application and had therefore offered no reassurance that they could be mitigated.
Planners said the ‘poorly designed’ building would be out of context with the area, stating: “The proposed building fails to meet these requirements by simply proposing a visually jarring, detached, utilitarian building without any attempt to integrate it into the urban context or to soften its impact.”
The lack of a traffic assessment was also identified as an issue. The decision letter states: “The scheme is likely to exacerbate existing parking pressures in the locality which in turn displaces more vehicles into the highway and it would also increase the number of vehicles having to negotiate the difficult Fell Street/ Ford Green Road junction - both of which have a cumulative impact and increase the risk of collisions.”
The council’s ruling will come as a relief to residents, who had said the residential area was ‘not a destination for cuisine’.