01-05-2025
Bucks takeaway refused planning permission after operating 'unlawfully'
Buckinghamshire Council have refused to give planning permission to Yummy Bites, a hot food takeaway, at 85 Broad Street, Chesham.
A planning application was made to change the use of the property to become a takeaway, and a retrospective request for permission for the installation of a ventilation system and signage.
The council stated there was no evidence that the extraction system dealt satisfactorily with odours from cooking smells.
It stated: "Given the proximity of residential properties and the high sided buildings to the rear, which act as barriers to the dispersal of cooking odours, it has not been demonstrated that the proposal would avoid odour nuisance to nearby residential properties, which harms their amenity."
The council also raised concerns about noise from the takeaway.
It said: "The extraction equipment currently in operation create excessive noise as assessed at a nearby noise sensitive receptor (i.e. neighbouring dwellings).
"The submitted Noise Impact Assessment contains no specific measures for this site and does not demonstrate that the neighbouring residential properties are not affected by noise from the extraction system.
"It has therefore not been demonstrated that the proposal avoids noise nuisance to nearby residential properties, which harms their amenity."
In the application, it says that in March 2020, the applicant applied for and was given approval for the change of use of the property from a shop to a restaurant and café.
The proposal describes confusion by the property owner.
It said: "The applicant mistakenly believed that this consent would allow him to operate as a takeaway.
"Due to Covid he was not professionally advised and had relied upon an earlier version of The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987.
"The then order for A3 uses stated: 'the sale of food or drink for consumption on the premises or of hot food for consumption off the premises'."
"In June 2020 following receipt of the Prior Approval notification the applicant went about making the necessary alterations to the property and began using the premises as a hot food takeaway, albeit unlawfully."
He was issued an Enforcement Notice on March 28, 2024.
The breaches cited in the Notice relate to harm being caused by the existing kitchen ventilation/extraction system and the decking at the front of the building.
The site lies in a small parade of three commercial premises set back from Broad Street about 400m north east of the town centre.
