Issue - meetings

            That planning permission be granted subject to the conditions detailed in the report of the Chief Officer (Planning and Environment) but with an amendment to the condition relating to opening hours so that opening hours are 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm on Saturday.

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Planning and Environment) in respect of this application which had been the subject of a site visit on 22 June 2015.  The usual consultations had been undertaken and the responses received detailed in the report.  Additional comments received since the preparation of the report were circulated at the meeting. 

            The officer detailed the background to the report and explained that the Local Members had asked for committee determination because of the amount of local interest in the proposal.  Hawarden Community Council had objected to the application on the grounds of highway safety and proposed hours of operation and 13 objections had been received from local residents.

            Mr. M. Nixon, the application, spoke in support of the application.  He said that the opening hours of 6am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays had been requested.  The 6am start would allow customers to bring their vehicles for MOTs outside of normal working hours and would result in a maximum of three cars being brought in during the period of 6am to 8am.  The MOT testing station was not near the road so the issue of noise was not a problem and the concerns that had been raised about trading already taking place were untrue.  Mr. Nixon explained that equipment needed to be in place before the MOT station could operate and this had been stored on the site since the garage closed down earlier in the year.                

            Councillor Alison Halford moved refusal of the application, against officer recommendation, which was duly seconded.  She raised concern about the highway particularly as the site was located on a bend and added that the introduction of more vehicles to the area was a problem.  Councillor Halford felt that the start time of 6am for a residential area was too early and added that another MOT station in the area did not open as early. 

            The Local Member, Councillor Helen Brown, raised concern about highway safety and the hours of operation and said that objections had been received from Hawarden Community Council.  She reiterated the comment that vehicles were parking on the bend at the entrance to the site and that a 6am start in a residential area was unacceptable.  It was reported that a number of different businesses had been carried out on the site without planning permission.  Councillor Brown queried how it could be ensured that cars and loaders would not park on the road outside the site and asked Members to consider the hours of opening and highway issues if they were minded to grant permission. 

            Councillor Mike Peers said that some photographs of the problems caused by vehicles parking on the road had been forwarded to him; he circulated these to the Committee Members.  He explained that the photographs were showing the difficulty experienced by a delivery van and the need for it to reverse into the site because of vehicles parked on the road.  He also did  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31