Northwich garage planning application refused by council

The application by IJS Motors, who have already been operating from the site, formerly known as the Old Coal Yard, on a going concern basis, would also compromise highway safety, say council planners.

Located on land adjacent to David Street and Pleasant Street, the site had already been subject to a refused planning application in September 2019, which sought to demolish existing buildings and replace them with a larger unit.

In a supporting statement provided to Cheshire West and Chester Council, it was explained how the applicant (Mr I Sedgwick) was applying for a retrospective change of use permission to renovate the brownfield site.

It stated: "To utilise the time and enable a continuation of work the applicant has therefore renovated the premises direct and are now trading from the site as a going concern.

"An Enforcement Officer from the local authority attended the site following a complaint from a third party, who claimed the applicant had demolished and re-built the entire structure.

"From this site visit she agreed with the applicants statement that the building had not, in fact, been demolished but that the gable wall was re-built due to it being deemed unsafe and the roof overhauled.

"At this time the Enforcement Officer and advised the client that they were required to submit a Change-of-Use application from B8 to B2.

"It is our conclusion that there would be no demonstrable loss of benefit in the provision of the premises as a commercial garage that in turn will enable an established business to continue to trade successfully in the long term."

An aerial shot of the location of the garage

A noise impact assessment carried out on behalf of IJS Motors concluded that the rating level was below the background level, meaning it would have a low impact and went on to say how that had been carried out during a Covid-19 lockdown, meaning the background sound levels would have been lower than during normal conditions.

It concluded: "Based upon this assessment we would consider that taking into account for context this would reduce the significance of impact of the site on the surrounding residential receivers."

However, a report provided on behalf of the council's Environmental Protection Team stated the application had not demonstrated that noise from the proposed operation would be 'unlikely to disturb existing neighbours' and recommended it be refused on that basis.

It total, the council received 19 representations during the consultation period, which included six objections and 11 offering expressions of the support.

In offering up a conclusion and reasons for refusing the application, the designated case officer dealing with the application said: "The proposed development would have some economic benefit which should be afforded a degree of positive weight.

"However, the proposed development would result in a potentially intensive commercial use which is not considered to be acceptable in this primary residential area because it would have a harmful impact in terms of neighbour amenity, and it would compromise highway safety, contrary to relevant development plan policies.

"The local planning authority considers that the proposed development is unacceptable.

"It has therefore not been possible to work with the applicant in a positive and proactive way to secure a development that will improve the economic, social and environmental conditions of the area in line with the NPPF."