a day ago
Redcar Council calls for restrictions on nail and beauty salons
A local authority is calling on the government to change planning regulations to "take back control" of high streets.A unanimous motion from Redcar and Cleveland councillors expressed concern about a "growing concentration" of barbers, nail shops and beauty salons as well as councillor David Taylor said 25 of the 47 shops in his Eston ward fell into that category. He said that if control was not taken there was a risk of losing "variety and vibrancy" which made the area worth "visiting and investing in".
Reform of national planning guidance in 2020 merged a wide range of commercial uses into category E, removing the need for planning permission for many new said at the time it was a sensible measure during the Covid pandemic to support the survival of council said it would write to the government to ask it to consider removing barber shops, nail bars and beauty salons from category E, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
'Get a grip'
Taylor said his motion was not an attack on local businesses, but about "returning planning decisions to where they belong with local authorities and the community".Council leader, Alec Brown, said his Labour group would support the motion, although it called it "very un-Conservative" since it sought to interfere with the free councillor Paul Salvin said what was being discussed was a country-wide issue and about "taking back some control of our high streets".Guisborough councillor Bill Clark, an independent, said he fully supported the said: "The abuse of this [planning use] category is there for all to see in our towns and villages."Let's get a grip of this, if we don't it is going to get worse."
