Taxi office plans set to be refused

Reporter: Louis Brierley
Date online: 14 September 2011

Planning proposals to convert a ground floor shop in Heywood into a private taxi booking office are likely to be refused by Councillors – for the second time.

The application, which relates to 32 Bridge Street, will go before Councillors at a planning meeting next week. Councillors have been advised to refuse the application because the site is deemed as unsuitable for such a business.

The plans are for an office, which would be open 24-hours a day. However a report regarding the proposal has concluded that the office would give rise to an uncomfortable amount of noise at unruly hours, disturbing the neighbouring homes during their sleeping hours. Besides this, the constant comings-and-goings of taxi drivers would cause undue congestion in Bridge Street, an area which the Council deemed already congested.

The council has received six letters of objection relating to traffic, parking problems and noise.

Three letters of support were received and the applicant has submitted a petition signed by 27 people and a further six letters of support.

The report set to go before Councillors, reads: “The proposal is likely to adversely affect highway safety and also place an even greater and unfair demand upon the use of the limited public off-street parking provision in the vicinity for existing shops and other commercial premises.

“The proposed 24-hour use of the taxi booking office every day of the week would also be likely to have an unacceptable impact upon the amenities of the self-contained flat in the first floor of the application building and also the nearby residents at nos. 8, 10 and 2 Collinge Street.

“In these circumstances, it is recommended that this resubmitted application be refused. The letters of support for the proposal that have been received, which are generally from people who live remote from the site, do not outweigh the clear harm to residential amenity and highway safety which would arise from this proposal.”