K’s Spice African Restaurant 13-15, Pier Road, Bexley, DA8 1TA

K’s Spice African Restaurant 13-15, Pier Road, Bexley, DA8 1TA — London Borough of Bexley — Appeal Decision Site visit made on 15 October 2024 by S Wilkinson BA, BPl, Dip LA, MBA, MRTPI an Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State Decision date: 05 November 2024 Appeal Ref: APP/D5120/W/24/3346941 K’s Spice African Restaurant, 13-15 Pier Road, Bexley, DA8 1TA • The appeal is made under section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) against a refusal to grant planning permission. • The appeal is made by Kayode Areoye against the decision of the Council of the London Borough of Bexley. • The application Ref is 24/00806/FUL. • The development proposed is Change of use of no.15 to restaurant and hot food takeaway (Class A3 and A5) and internal alterations to form doorway between both properties to create one unit. • Previous decision ref: 15/01660/FUL dated 05/10/2015. • The condition which is in dispute is No 3 which states that: The hours of use of the extended restaurant and hotfood takeaway at numbers 13 and 15 shall be restricted to 9am-11pm Mondays and Sundays. No customer shall be permitted to be on the premises outside of these times. • The reason for the Condition is: In the interests of the amenities of local residents. Decision 1. The appeal is refused. Procedural Matters 2.

K’s Spice African Restaurant 13-15, Pier Road, Bexley, DA8 1TA — London Borough of Bexley — Appeal Decision The officer’s delegated report and the appellant’s statement include references to several policies from the Council’s Unitary Development Plan. On adoption of the Local Plan (LP) in 2023 these policies ceased to have effect. Only policy LP DP11 is referred to in this decision. 3. The appellant’s statement refers to a range of matters regarding the Council’s decision-making process. These fall outside the scope of this decision. Main Issue 4. The main issue is the effects of the appeal scheme on the living conditions of neighbouring residential occupiers. Reasons 5. The appeal site comprises a ground floor restaurant with bungalow frontage which forms part of a parade of commercial units on the ground floor with flats above. There are large parking areas to the front and rear of the site. 6. The proposed extension of the restaurant’s opening hours would extend the operation of the site’s lawful use by three hours from 11.00pm to 2.00am seven days a week. From the appellants statement, I am satisfied that appropriate sound insulation works as required by Condition 5 of the original https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate

K’s Spice African Restaurant 13-15, Pier Road, Bexley, DA8 1TA — London Borough of Bexley — Appeal Decision Appeal Decision APP/D5120/W/24/3346941 permission have been completed. Accordingly, noise derived from activities within the premises could be adequately mitigated. 7. The appellant has indicated that the conditions included in the premises licence demonstrate how noise generated from sources outside the site through people entering and leaving and car doors closing could be controlled. However, the hours of the license differ from those currently applied for in this appeal. 8. It is unclear therefore what form of control could be exercised beyond the hours of the licence from either 12.00 midnight on Sundays to Thursday and 1.00am Friday to Saturday given that the proposed extension of hours is up to 2.00am. 9. Although the appellant identifies that the primary purpose of the site would be as a restaurant for customers to enjoy social gatherings its lawful planning use appears wider than that for the licence and would still allow the site being used as a hot food take away. This could give rise to activities which could lead to additional noise and disturbance into the early hours given the nature of the lawful planning use. 10.

K’s Spice African Restaurant 13-15, Pier Road, Bexley, DA8 1TA — London Borough of Bexley — Appeal Decision The extension of hours would be to times in the depth of the night when any noise would have greater impact than during normal working hours. The type of social gatherings suggested by the appellant would lead to noise generation. 11. Policy LP DA11 identifies the importance of compatibility between uses and require adequate mitigation to avoid conflict between them. Given the nature of the lawful planning use of the site, I conclude that there would be conflict between policy LP DA11 and the proposed extension of hours. Other Matters 12. The existing restaurant and hot food takeaway is used by local people of African background for social gatherings. Whilst I recognise the importance of the use for this community the extension of hours would adversely impact on the living conditions of local residents. However, in dismissing this appeal the use of this site as both a restaurant and takeaway would be retained. 13. Finally, the appellant states that additional jobs could arise from the proposed extension of hours.

K’s Spice African Restaurant 13-15, Pier Road, Bexley, DA8 1TA — London Borough of Bexley — Appeal Decision Again I find that whilst employment is an important part of the overall planning balance it does not outweigh the harms which could arise from the appeal scheme to the living conditions of surrounding occupiers. Conclusion 14. Having weighed into the planning balance the material considerations above, I conclude that the scheme conflicts with policy LP DA11 and would adversely impact on the living conditions of surrounding residential occupiers. 15. For these reasons, the appeal is dismissed.

K’s Spice African Restaurant 13-15, Pier Road, Bexley, DA8 1TA — London Borough of Bexley — S Wilkinson INSPECTOR https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 2