Fed & Watered cafe - planning update
The owners of a café in Ryton, built without planning permission and with a dangerous road access, were told today that their third attempt to get approval will not be accepted because it repeats previous applications and appeals.
There is an enforcement notice in place requiring the café to close down and be demolished permanently.
The Fed & Watered café off the B6317 Stella Road in Ryton has been trading for several years, and has been the subject of a planning dispute ever since it was established.
The café and associated buildings were built without planning permission and work to the premises continued - despite the refusal of a planning application, which was also supported by the independent planning inspector following an appeal.
An enforcement notice has been in place for the unauthorised café development since May and should have been complied with by August this year.
The independent planning inspector appointed by the government said the continuing operation of the café added additional traffic onto a "substandard" access creating "unacceptable effects" on highway safety in the area.
We are very worried about access to a nearby children's play centre and a footpath to the local primary school, and conflict with café traffic.
We received the latest planning application in late November, and have decided not to consider it, as it repeats previous applications that have already been rejected by the council and independent planning inspectors.
Under powers in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, local planning authorities can refuse to determine planning applications submitted on sites where an enforcement notice has already been issued.
We believe the application offers no significant new information that has not already been considered and discounted as part of previous applications and related planning appeals.
Our planners have always had significant concerns about highway safety since the café was developed. The applicant has had plenty of chances to address the concerns or to demonstrate to an independent inspector appointed by the government that our concerns are unfounded.
Anneliese Hutchinson, strategic director for economy, innovation and growth at Gateshead Council, said: "The Council has made this decision in the interests of protecting the safety of pedestrians and drivers using this area, including those using the footpath which leads towards a local school and a children's play facility.
"We are prepared to use our planning enforcement powers when necessary to ensure that members of the public are protected from development that causes harm to their safety.
"We have tried to work with the owners of the Fed & Watered café for a long period, to try to resolve the planning dispute around this development.
"But we have now reached a point where no new information is coming forward, and we do not have proposals that would be acceptable for highway safety.
"The independent planning inspector appointed by the Government has supported our position, and we are moving to enforcement as a last resort.
"Gateshead Council is always keen to support businesses where it can, and officers did work with the applicant to try to find solutions to the planning concerns, but in this case the location is not considered suitable. The council will always be willing to help a community café set up in an appropriate location."
The owners of a café in Ryton, built without planning permission and with a dangerous road access, were told today that their third attempt to get approval will not be accepted because it repeats previous applications and appeals.
There is an enforcement notice in place requiring the café to close down and be demolished permanently.
The Fed & Watered café off the B6317 Stella Road in Ryton has been trading for several years, and has been the subject of a planning dispute ever since it was established.
The café and associated buildings were built without planning permission and work to the premises continued - despite the refusal of a planning application, which was also supported by the independent planning inspector following an appeal.
An enforcement notice has been in place for the unauthorised café development since May and should have been complied with by August this year.
The independent planning inspector appointed by the government said the continuing operation of the café added additional traffic onto a "substandard" access creating "unacceptable effects" on highway safety in the area.
We are very worried about access to a nearby children's play centre and a footpath to the local primary school, and conflict with café traffic.
We received the latest planning application in late November, and have decided not to consider it, as it repeats previous applications that have already been rejected by the council and independent planning inspectors.
Under powers in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, local planning authorities can refuse to determine planning applications submitted on sites where an enforcement notice has already been issued.
We believe the application offers no significant new information that has not already been considered and discounted as part of previous applications and related planning appeals.
Our planners have always had significant concerns about highway safety since the café was developed. The applicant has had plenty of chances to address the concerns or to demonstrate to an independent inspector appointed by the government that our concerns are unfounded.
Anneliese Hutchinson, strategic director for economy, innovation and growth at Gateshead Council, said: "The Council has made this decision in the interests of protecting the safety of pedestrians and drivers using this area, including those using the footpath which leads towards a local school and a children's play facility.
"We are prepared to use our planning enforcement powers when necessary to ensure that members of the public are protected from development that causes harm to their safety.
"We have tried to work with the owners of the Fed & Watered café for a long period, to try to resolve the planning dispute around this development.
"But we have now reached a point where no new information is coming forward, and we do not have proposals that would be acceptable for highway safety.
"The independent planning inspector appointed by the Government has supported our position, and we are moving to enforcement as a last resort.
"Gateshead Council is always keen to support businesses where it can, and officers did work with the applicant to try to find solutions to the planning concerns, but in this case the location is not considered suitable. The council will always be willing to help a community café set up in an appropriate location."
