commercial premises question

[Steve]

The place I work at recently had permission denied for work that had already been carried out (developers fault).

I have attached an aerial view.

Basically, they want us to stop using the parking bays, and remove the refrigeration plant from the roof. Immediately. Permission was apparently denied 4 months ago. (presumably they sent the denial to the developer in Newcastle, who ignored it as its a job finished - we certainly never heard anywaything).

Anyway, the building used to be a job centre. It was split into two units, one smaller, a betting shop. The big rectangular building behind is empty (presume it used to be part of the JC). It has no means of access from the road, nor from either of the new units.

As the job centre, there was no parking at the front at all. The developers formed the parking and applied for permission, and also for the plant on the roof. The original plans showed the plant being in the big yellow box (presumably this is why the roof was removed), but we needed this space for storing cages, so they relocated it on the drawings, and submitted an amendment to the authorities. This was November/December 2008.

Does anyone have any idea why the refrigeration plant is unacceptable where it is? Its sat between two sloping roofs, nobody can see it except maybe two houses behind, but they certainly cant hear it, and its no worse view than it was without them.

Ditto for the parking - whats wrong with it? How could we improve it? I know it encourages people to pull off the main road the wrong way (one way st). What if the company paid for the one way signs to be relocated a hundred yards back? Would the council accept this? There are houses opposite the parking.

Relocating the plant unit is not an option - we'd have to close for a few days while all the fridges are offline, and anywhere else it will be vandalised. Shutting off the parking is also not an option - there are doible yellow lines all around the store, and we need to get deliveries in!

Any help?

No, its not up to me, top company boffs are dealing with it, im just interested in possible solutions.

 

[jeds]

I'd bet money the refrig plant is a noise issue. All cold plant causes noise. It might not be noticeable during the day but at night it will p?ss the neighbours off in no time. An acoustic screen fence can sometimes do the trick and could also solve any visual issues as well.

The parking will most likely be due to having to reverse back on to the highway. I don't see any obvious way around this. One possibility might be to angle the bays away from the direction of travel. That will mean people must reverse into the bays and pull out in the correct direction. Preferable to the alternative.

Tell the company boffs that'll be nine hundred quid please.

 

[^woody^]

You will be able to get a copy of the refusal notice from the council, and compare the reasons with the local planning policy or other criteria.

 

[Steve]

One possibility might be to angle the bays away from the direction of travel. That will mean people must reverse into the bays and pull out in the correct direction. Preferable to the alternative.

They are angled as shown on my diagram! But people dont like reversing into them. Dont know why.


The plant we have I believe is called a Frogbox. This is a big insulated box with two fans on top. I have seen them at other stores, and they dont make much noise. The noisiest bit is the fans at full speed, but with the air con off, they rarely reach full speed.

Quote from the council website:

The application site has previously been the subject of much debate concerned with the planning status of the site and a view taken that the change of use from former job centre to retail did not require a planning consent. While therefore the proposed change to retail was a concern from a highway safety point of view, there were apparently no legitimate grounds upon which a highway reason for refusal could be substantiated. It was therefore much about mitigating the affects of the retail use and what was agreed, was the provision of a new vehicular access from Genoa Street that would facilitate the delivery of goods to site taking place off the public highway. Whilst it was appreciated this situation was far from desirable in the circumstances, it was thought to be the best option available. I am therefore most concerned that the proposal is to convert this service area to a car parking area. Not only because it precludes the use of the space for service vehicles, thus forcing these vehicles to off load on public highway, but also designates an area for car parking that is unsatisfactory for that purpose. While I haven't measured the length of the space between the back edge of the footway and the building, the submitted plan appears very ambitious scaling something like 6.5m. I have serious doubts that this distance can even be achieved even if the spaces are measured in echelon. The consequence of this has been evidenced from a site visit, in that vehicles over hang the footway and present problems for pedestrians. The car parking spaces are also laid out contrary to the one-way system, which could encourage vehicles to pull out and move away against the traffic flow. The layout of the spaces also suggests the one-way system is operating in the opposite direction. CONTINUED IN NOTE

One other point raised in discussion with the developer, was the closure of the existing access located on the junction of Genoa Street and Adwick Road. This access again encourages vehicles to access the junction against the one-way system and cross vehicles emerging from the junction. The proposal also involves the use of an access directly from Adwick Road into a small car park, which may include some parking allocation for the existing shop. However, I am very concerned the area, which includes one disabled space and two standard spaces, is insufficient to allow vehicles to carryout a turning manoeuvre and then to access the highway in forward gear. The situation therefore will ultimately result in vehicles revering on to or from Adwick Road contrary to the interest of road safety and the safe free flow of traffic. In the circumstances, I am unable to agree the proposed development and take the view that if approved, it will lead to potentially serious road safety problems.

It seems to me that the plant is not a problem, but it was on the same application at the parking.

For reference to the diagram, Genoa street is the 1 way road and Adwick Road is the main road N-S