An application to remove a planning condition for a restaurant to only be used as restaurant has been approved.
The owner requested for this condition to be removed to create ‘greater flexibility’ for the use of the vacant site on Wallingford’s High Street – formerly occupied by Indian restaurant Anokhi.
South Oxfordshire District Council planning committee approved the application despite worries it could make way in the future for the site to be converted into a house which would be "detrimental" to the town.
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Anokhi closed in 2018 after council food hygiene inspectors found evidence of a rat infestation.
In 1975, the building was change from a pub to a restaurant and a condition imposed that it should remain a restaurant.
Sue Roberts was among councillors who spoke against this application. She believes that this condition should be kept in order to protect the site and the town’s High Street.
She said: “Characterful towns like Wallingford, still attract good footfall with the range of exciting independent shops which are simply fun and enjoyable to visit.
“The evidence is all around us, that we are becoming a centre for a night-economy. One thousand new homes coming to us, as well as those all around us, will need more and more bars, cafes and restaurants, not fewer.
“[The] removal of the condition would be detrimental to the town.”
Catherine Scotting, major applications team leader, said the removal of this condition would allow the owners to have flexibility for the site to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances.
She said: “The removal of this condition does not mean that it could be used as a house, it means it could be used within Class E of the general permitted development order.
“Class E includes shops cafes, restaurants, offices and gyms. It gives the flexibility to be used for a wide range of different uses appropriate to a high street. By giving that flexibility it can respond rapidly to changing circumstances that we have seen during Covid.”
Wallingford Town Council has also expressed support for this application.
The district council council stated that at the moment they can only assess this application on the specific removal of this condition.
A separate one would need to be done if the applicant wishes to convert the building to residential.
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