Late night plans for a Syrian restaurant in the heart of Liverpool's L8 district have put it on a collision course with the city council. A bid has been lodged by Taj restaurant on Lodge Lane with the local authority to extend its opening hours until 3am.
The business, which opened its second location on Berry Street in the city centre last year, offers hawarma platters with rice or chips, wraps, grills, burgers, pizzas, salads, and baked goods. Its proposals for the original site have been branded “inappropriate” by a community leader.
Community and Planning Concerns
With concerns emerging around the impact on a wider residential area and storage waste, Cllr Laura Robertson-Collins has urged the application be knocked back. Documents have also revealed previous bids for late night extensions more than a decade ago.
Later this month, representatives from Taj will go before Liverpool Council’s licensing and gambling sub-committee to plead their case for the takeaway to serve customers until 3am on Fridays and Saturdays. This has been agreed following discussions with Merseyside Police, who encouraged the applicant to seek a 1am terminal hour from Sunday to Thursday.
Planning Permission Issues
However, new submissions from the council’s planning and building control have revealed even this could prove to be a step too far. According to team member Stuart Clark, no planning permission exists to allow the premises to be used as a hot food takeaway.
Mr Clark wrote: “Two applications in 2013 (were) refused on amenity grounds as a result of inadequate flue discharge measures. Those applications sought an 11pm finish which would have been acceptable if the flue issues had been resolved. “This licence application is seeking a 3am terminal hour which is significantly beyond what is deemed to be acceptable in public amenity terms as laid out in the current development plan. The accepted terminal opening time detailed in the local plan for Local Centres, of which Lodge Lane is one of, is 11.30pm.”
Mr Clark added how such opening times would lead to “detrimental impacts and public nuisance to nearby occupiers and any application to use the premises as a hot food takeaway opening until 3am would be refused for similar reasons.” He said if hours were reduced to 11.30pm, objections would be dropped.
Councillor's Objections
The objections were reinforced by cabinet member Cllr Robertson-Collins. She said: “I do not believe this premises has planning permission to operate until 3am. This premises is in a residential area with people living next to it and behind it. It is not appropriate for businesses to trade past 12am in a residential area. There are continual issues with lack of correct waste storage and also rats in this area.”
The plans will be considered by the city council committee on July 16.
