4am opening at Dixy Chicken refused

In May, Dixy Chicken (450 Wilbraham Road) applied for Planning Permission to extend their opening hours to 11.00 am to 02.00 Monday to Tuesday, 11.00 am to 03.00 am Wednesday to Thursday, 11.00 am to 4.00am Friday to Saturday and 11.00 am to 03.00 am Sunday. A number of residents contacted me to complain about the impact this would have on them and on the centre of Chorlton. I raised my concerns and sent the following representation to the Planning Committee:

I wish to object to the above planning application.  The proposed opening hours are significantly later than comparable businesses in the area and I am deeply concerned about the impact these late opening hours could have on the local area. It is my view that these opening hours could potentially present a significant disamenity to local residents and threaten the licensing objectives.  Proposed opening hours until 4am have the potential to encourage and exacerbate crime and disorder; threaten Public Safety ; encourage anti social behaviour and public nuisance. Chorlton has recently experienced numerous raids on late night premises and these trading hours would make this premises susceptible to such a problem. The proposed opening hours could potentially encourage crowds tocongregate, late night fights and affrays and general vandalism which can also potentially pose a threat to public health. 

The proposed hours could potentially also create a public nuisance in a residential area as there will be excessive noise, light, unpleasant smells, litter and public urination in the early hours. There has recently been an issue of businesses leaving commercial waste in the alley behind Wilbraham Road and on Keppel Road and this application could exacerbate this problem.  I also believe that the proposed hours will encourage people to travel from further afield than they would otherwise for late night refreshments. As a result it may exacerbate existing parking problems and encourage inconsiderate and dangerous parking. There is already a serious problem of taxis and cars parking on double yellow lines along Wilbraham Road and I believe this application could make this situation worse.  

I am also concerned about the precedent such late Opening hours could present. I would like to request that when the Planning Committee consider this application they are made aware of the opening and trading hours of similar businesses in Chorlton District Centre.

I am pleased that we managed to convince the Planning Department to recommend this application was refused in their official report and that the Planning Committee refused the application this afternoon.