North Lanarkshire Council planners have approved plans for a new licensed restaurant and cafe in Wishaw town centre. The decision was made after no objections were received to the proposals for the property in Stewarton Street.
Former music shop to be transformed
The premises, currently a vacant music shop on a busy street, was previously granted permission for a change of use to a coffee shop, but that scheme was not implemented. The music shop was located next to a take-away business that burned down.
The new application covers internal and external changes to create a licensed restaurant and cafe with takeaway services, along with a separate hot food takeaway. The existing retail unit will be joined internally with a new build section to form the cafe with an associated takeaway, while the sandstone frontage will be retained.
Council report highlights key assessments
In their report approving the plans, council planners stated: “The proposal is acceptable in terms of design, location, size and scale. The proposal would not result in any significant privacy issues.”
The report also noted that a Noise Impact Assessment showed that, with mitigation, the occupier of the existing flat above would not be disturbed during business hours. As the premises is in a Coal Authority High Risk Area, a Coal Mining Risk Assessment was carried out, and the Coal Authority indicated no objection.
No parking is provided within the curtilage of the business. The report concluded: “The proposal can be accommodated without any significant adverse impact and is therefore in accordance with the policies of the North Lanarkshire Local Development Plan 2022. It is therefore considered that the planning application should be approved subject to the attached conditions.”
