PLANNING bosses at Warrington have thrown out a controversial proposal to convert a former community centre into a hot food takeaway shop.
Members of the borough council’s development control committee turned down the plans for the former Longbarn Community Centre, in Pasture Lane after hearing of residents’ fears of anti-social behaviour, unruly youths, noise, disturbance and cooking smells.
Borough councillors representing the area – Iona Gillis, Sharon Wilson, Scott Wilson and Colin Oliver – also lodged objections
Committee members visited the site before coming to a decision.
The building is close to the entrance to the Longbarn estate, off Harpers Road at the junction with Pasture Lane and Fallowfield Grove.
It was originally used as a shop but was changed to a community centre in 2000. Two previous applications for hot food takeaways had been thrown out on the grounds of noise, disturbance and lack of off street parking.
But this time, planning officers had argued that there would be no harm to the amenity of nearby residents if odour extraction equipment was installed.
