By John Baron
A Kirkstall councillor has spoken out over what she claims is a ‘flaw’ in the planning system after controversial plans for a new Burger King drive thru restaurant were approved.
Members of the South and West Plans Panel yesterday afternoon approved a new £2 million drive thru on the Morrisons estate off Savins Mill Way, despite fears that it would worsen road safety problems.
Panel members had said at their September meeting that they were minded to refuse the application due to traffic congestion in the area.
But yesterday they received legal advice that the council would be unlikely to win on planning grounds if they refused permission and the developer appealed to an independent planning inspector. Members then voted 3-1 to approve the application.
Kirkstall councillor Hannah Bithell (Lab, Kirkstall) posted her reaction to the decision on Facebook.
“As a councillor team we objected to this scheme, as did many other residents,” she wrote.
“While investment in our area and new businesses are brilliant and warmly welcomed, a business that attracts cars to visit and do extra manoeuvres in a location where there are already a lot of accidents happening and a huge amount of congestion is not the right business for this spot in our opinion.
“To give context, a big part of the panel’s decision to pass it was that legal advice was that if it was refused, the council would lose at appeal on the basis that this application judged on its own would not significantly add to existing congestion and going to appeal in itself costs public money. This is, in my opinion, a flaw of our planning system.
“However now that the planning application is through, we will work hard to represent residents with both the developer and the highways team to ensure we get the very best outcomes we can for our area.”
South and west plans panel members were told that similar refusals in other parts of the country had seen local authorities have their decisions overturned, with substantial costs awarded to the applicants.
Council highways officers said they were satisfied that the traffic impact of the scheme was not serious enough to refuse permission.
Conditions imposed the developer include a legal agreement which would see the developer pay £30,000 towards road signal improvements and £42,000 for traffic cameras. Council officers had also warned the panel that if there was a successful appeal, the scheme could go ahead without the financial contribution.
Real estate investment trust NewRiver Retail submitted the single storey plan for the disused corner plot at Kirkstall Retail Park, next to Matalan. They argue the project would create jobs and bring a disused site near Savins Mill Way back into use.
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