Businessman lodges appeal after plans for 'unique' new takeaway in Hartlepool refused

Proposals were refused by Hartlepool Borough Council planning department last year to convert the vacant property at 16 Sydenham Road into a takeaway.

Council planning officers rejected the plans, submitted by Mr Mohammed Malik, citing concerns over obesity and the number of takeaways already in the area.

An appeal has now been lodged to the national Planning Inspectorate by the applicant over the decision to refuse the development planning permission in a bid to get the ruling overturned.

A report from council planning officer Stephanie Bell, which explained why the initial plans were rejected, noted how the proposals go against borough wide initiatives to promote healthy eating.

It said: “Hot food takeaway uses have the potential to create greater disturbance to the residential amenity of neighbouring properties in terms of unsociable opening hours and nuisance smells.

“Furthermore, the proposed development would undermine efforts to promote healthy eating and contribute to an established link between higher than average obesity levels in the area and the sale of hot food.”

A design and access statement from ASP Associates, on behalf of applicant Mr Malik, had argued the plans would not be detrimental to the area.

A further statement has also been put forward ahead of the appeal decision on behalf of the applicant as to why the refusal of the plans should be overturned.

It said: “We believe that having a vacant building within the local community that is often the target of vandalism has a much greater negative impact on the viability of the local area than a new unique hot food business.

“The landlord has been advertising the property to be let for a long time and it has remained unoccupied for over 10 years

“The unique Pakistani cuisine business which is being proposed at 16 Sydenham Road, would not impact the child obesity rates in the area, in fact it would provide a healthier alternative within the local area instead of multinational chains and pizza takeaways.”

Council public health bosses had previously submitted objections to the plans, citing obesity statistics in the town.

Hartlepool has a notably higher number of hot food takeaways per 100,000 population than the national average (160.5 compared with a national average of 96.1).

Statistics also show 24.1% of reception age children in Hartlepool are classified as having excess weight, with the number rising to 43.8% for Year 6 pupils.

This compares to an England average of 22.6% of children having excess weight at reception age and 34.3% at Year 6.

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