2 days ago
Retrospective plan for take away at popular shopping plaza refused
A RETROSPECTIVE application to keep a take away kiosk at a busy shopping plaza in Bradford has been refused.
The kiosk was built at the entrance to Bradford Plaza in Thornbury in January 2024 – despite there being no permission in place for a take away business.
Now a retrospective application for the business, known as Deli Plaza, has been refused by Bradford Council, with planners saying it could cause anti-social behaviour and add to childhood obesity.
Bradford Plaza has become one of the city's busiest shopping areas in recent years, and is made up of multiple small shops and food businesses.
The take away kiosk is located at the Rushton Avenue entrance to the site – opposite the entrance to Morrisons.
The retrospective application for the business had been submitted by Z+F Properties, and said it employed two people.
There was one objector to the plans, who said: 'Unauthorised shops in Bradford Plaza are causing issues for local residents.'
Now the application has been refused by planners, who pointed out that the business falls foul of policies that prevents new take aways from opening within 400 metres of a school, park or youth facility.
Planning officers said: 'The application site is close to secondary schools or youth centred facilities (Laisterdyke Business and Enterprise College) and recreational grounds or park boundaries (Thornbury Roundabout).
'It is also close to a day nursery and creche (Spinning Top Day Nursery and Out of School Club) with the premises and facilities within 400 metres of the site.
'The proposed hot food takeaway use is therefore considered to be contrary to the Council's adopted Hot Food Takeaway Supplementary Planning Document, which seeks to support the healthy eating agenda and aims to minimise the negative impacts of takeaways on childhood health by controlling the proximity of new takeaways to primary and secondary schools and youth centred facilities.'
Planners also pointed out that the proposed opening hours of the business would be until midnight. They added: 'These are late operating hours which exceeds the opening hours of Bradford Plaza which is advertised (on Google) to open 11:30am-7pm Monday- Sundays and closed on Fridays.
'These late-night operating hours are deemed to be anti-social and could result in anti- social behaviour and statutory nuisance to nearby residential properties to the detriment of their amenity with the nature of such a use and associated activities and late night comings and goings of customers likely to result in noise and disturbance issues which will detrimentally harm the amenity of adjacent residential properties/occupants.'
