Decision details

(i)  That the Council assesses all new planning applications for hot food takeaways within 500m of schools and, if there is considered to be a overriding health implication, then opening hours are restricted during lunch times.

(ii)  That a cross departmental group is set up to explore whether there are opportunities to influence the spread of betting shops, pay-day-loan premises, and the opening of fast food outlets near schools over the longer term and reports back to Cabinet within six months.  It is considered that cheap off-licence sales should not be considered further as this is not a planning issue.

(iii)  The report back to Cabinet should also consider whether an article 4 should be served to require planning permission for the conversion of pubs to any other use classes.

It is considered that many of the issues raised in this report are legitimate concerns but are beyond the remit of the planning system and are better tackled in a more comprehensive way with input from various bodies.  While there is a short term solution for new hot food takeaways that can be implemented immediately, the majority of the issues will require a longer term solution and should be assessed further.

Do nothing.  This is possible in the current economic climate where further work may be considered to not be cost effective but, on balance, it is considered that the small input of officer time is worth exploring these issues further.

None