Cllr Jeff Brace

New fish and chip shop given go ahead in Romford

Lee-Ann Richards, Reporter Monday, January 14, 2013
4:05 PM

Councillors went against the recommendations of planning officers and gave the go ahead for a new fish and chip shop in Romford.

The Regulatory Services Committee meeting approved the plans for the new takeway in Moray Way, Romford on Thursday January 10, but imposed conditions meaning that the shop must close at 9pm and that the owners have to set up a refuse scheme.

Councillors had been advised from planning officers that the application should be refused because the takeaway was in a residential area and because of the fear that it would give rise to unacceptable levels of noise, disturbance and anti-social behaviour.

Cllr Mike Armstrong (Con, Pettits) also objected to the application because of the fear that it would cause parking problems.

He said: “This is an area that is mainly residential properties and it is alreay busy with parking, this new takeaway will just cause added issues around traffic.

“It will impact on the area because it will encourage people to hang around outside the shop.”

There was also an objection from a resident who argued that the closing hours of 9pm would be detrimental to his lifestyle.

But Cllr Barry Tebbutt (Con, Brooklands) argued that the council should be supporting local businesses.

He said: “I have seen lots of shops closing because they are not being given flexibility. my worry is that if we don’t approve applications like these we will see our local shopping centres disappearing.”

He was also supported by Cllr Jeff Brace (Con, Elm Park).

He said: “I am surprised that this has come up for refusal.

“We should be helping businesses otherwise more of them are going to close.”

A motion was put forward for a deferral so that councillors could negotiate the 9pm closing time with the owner, but it was defeated.