Planning – Application Comments

Consultation Date: Fri 26 Sep 2025

Consultation Date: Fri 26 Sep 2025

Consultation Date: Fri 26 Sep 2025

Consultation Date: Fri 26 Sep 2025

Consultation Date: Fri 26 Sep 2025

Comment Date: Mon 13 Oct 2025

PLYMOUTH CITY COUNCIL CONSULTEE COMMENTS FOR A PLANNING APPLICATION.

APPLICATION SUMMARY
PLANNING APPLICATION: 25/01256/MOR
ADDRESS: 1 Notte Street, Plymouth PL1 2BP
DESCRIPTION: Pre-application to confirm whether bake and go food service is permitted under the approved A1/A3 uses, or restricted under Condition 27 (No Hot Food Takeaway) of application 14/01264/FUL

CASE OFFICER: Emily Godwin (Planning Officer)
Development Management, PCC Strategic Planning & Infrastructure, Floor 2 Ballard House PL1 3BJ

CONSULTEE: Gary Lester (Transport Officer)
PCC Strategic Planning & Infrastructure, Transport Planning Team, Floor 2 Ballard House PL1 3BJ

Date: 9th October 2025

COMMENTS:
This Pre-application enquiry is to establish whether a 'bake and go food service' use is permitted under the approved A1/A3 uses; or restricted under Condition 27 - No Hot Food Takeaway, (of application 14/01264/FUL). To which the Local Highway Authority (LHA) would make the following comments: -

The above-mentioned Planning Condition 27 reads: -
NO HOT FOOD TAKEAWAY
(27) The premises shall not be used for the sale of any hot food for consumption off the premises.
Reason: - The use of the premises for such a purpose would be likely to harm local residential amenity due to increased noise and disturbance caused by the frequent arrival and departure of customers, and/or traffic and parking problems outside the premises and in adjacent streets, contrary to Policies CS28 and CS34 of the Plymouth Local Development Framework Core Strategy (2006-2021) 2007 and the NPPF:

The unfamiliar term 'bake and go food service' used in the application seems to apply to food products that are freshly baked & packaged for immediate consumption, such as from a supermarket. Or are "ready-to-bake" items that consumers can finish preparing easily at home, such as ready-meals to be heated-up.

However, from a planning perspective the LHA is unable to comment on the semantics between the two descriptions of 'Hot Food Takeaway', and the term 'bake and go food service'. But the intention in applying the above restrictive planning condition 27 to the extant consent was (inter-alia) to preserve highway safety in front of the development, by preventing the short-term indiscriminate overspill parking on Notte Street that is typically generated by the sale of hot food to be consumed off the premisses. Therefore, regardless of the description any proposal to sell hot food for consumption off the premisses would be subject of an objection from the LHA.

The sale of hot food for consumption off the premisses would invariably generate vehicle movements and a parking demand that the application premisses would be unable to accommodate within the private property. As considered (inter alia) by the LPA in granting planning consent under application 14/01264/FUL, that included the (above) restrictive Planning Condition 27 - No Hot Food Takeaway; needed to prevent the otherwise negative impacts and highway safety issues.

In which regard the LHA is also mindful of and would refer to the following extract of its earlier associated reply dated 21st August 2014 to the above-mentioned application and extant consent: -

(Extract) - The application site fronts onto the north side of Notte Street and The Crescent and occupies an irregular shaped plot situated between the junctions of Princess Way at its eastern end, and Athenaeum Lane at the western end. Both The Crescent and Notte Street are Classified Roads and subject to parking restrictions, in the form of Double Yellow Lines and loading restrictions, where stopping and loading/ unloading are not permitted. The development proposal would include four retail units on the ground floor in Notte Street, up to 3 units in Block 'A' (although this could be used as one single larger unit), and 1unit in Block 'B', for use within a proposed combination of Use Classes A1: Retail, A2: Financial and Professional Services, A3: Restaurants and Cafes, A4: Public Houses or A5: Hot Food Takeaways.
The proposed development has been subject of a pre-application enquiry and number of discussions, and although a virtually car free development was initially envisaged it was not understood to include any A5 Hot Food Take-away use as part of the approved retail uses on the ground floor. Transport would express concerns and object in principle to the inclusion of the A5 Take-away use, which would generate and attract a surge pattern in vehicle movements and an associated demand for indiscriminate short term car parking on the strategic road corridor of Notte Street.
Our Core Strategy indicates that Hot Food Takeaways would generally attract a parking provision of 1 space per every 5.5 sqm of floor space used by customers. But the application property would not provide any short-term off-street parking to support the Take-away use, and Transport would object in principle to the inclusion of the A5 Hot food Take-away use, and request that it be excluded from any grant of planning permission: (End of Extract).


SUMMARY:
The LHA would object to any type of hot food take-away use at the application property for the sale of hot food to be consumed off the premisses, for reasons as considered above that remain relevant, and where such a use is unintended and inappropriate.


Gary Lester
Transport Planning Officer
Officer authorised to sign on behalf of the Service
Director for Strategic Planning & Infrastructure

Comment Date: Fri 03 Oct 2025

The Natural Infrastructure Planning Team are currently not commenting on applications of this type.

Please use the new Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan Supplementary Planning Document, Adopted July 2020 or if you require further guidance please contact niplanning@plymouth.gov.uk to arrange an NI planning surgery slot.

If this application involves additional bedrooms, please complete a HRA02 Assessment. If the application may have a direct impact to the European Marine Site (a full assessment HRA01), please consult the team through an HRA consultation.

Kind regards

Natural Infrastructure Planning Team