Takeaway burger bar in Leyland pub car park told to stop trading because it’s too close to school

A takeaway burger bar that opened in a pub car park in Leyland has been told it can no longer continue trading from the site – because it is too close to local schools.

Smokies – which specialises in ‘smashed’ gourmet burgers – lost a retrospective bid for planning permission for its outlet in the grounds of Dunkirk Hall.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands the operator of the mobile grill hut at the Dunkirk Lane venue is considering whether to appeal against the decision by South Ribble Borough Council – and is continuing to serve customers for now.

The authority’s planning committee concluded that the venture fell foul of new national legislation designed to prevent takeaways setting up within “walking distance” of school gates – unless the businesses are in designated town centre areas.

Members heard there were five schools within a 0.4-0.6-mile radius of Smokies.

Council planning officer Debbie Roberts acknowledged that judgement of what counted as walking distance was “subjective”, because it was not defined in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). However, a report presented to members stated that “on balance” the location of the business was likely to put it in breach of the rules.

New local regulations that are yet to come into force, but which have been included within the proposed Central Lancashire Local Plan, were also deemed relevant – because they will block the opening of new takeaways in areas where levels of obesity in reception and year 6 children exceed 10 and 15 percent of pupils, respectively.

In the Earnshaw Bridge ward, where the outlet is based, 9.3 percent of reception-aged children are obese – just under the proposed threshold – but the proportion rises to 20.8 percent of youngsters in the final year of primary school, a level that would trigger refusal of a new takeaway once the new local plan is in operation.

As the development of the policy is at an advanced stage – but has not yet been adopted – it was factored in to the recommendation from planning officers that the Smokies application be rejected, albeit having been given only limited weight.

The nature of the hut was also deemed to be damaging to Dunkirk Hall itself, which is a Grade II-listed building.

Debbie Roberts said the “visual appearance” of the 2.2m-by-4.3m facility – and two separate chilled storage cabinets – caused “harm” to the hostelry as a result of their proximity to the historic structure.

“The unit disrupts the view of the listed building from all angles and it doesn’t give any positive contribution to the setting of the building. There aren’t considered to be any public benefits which outweigh the harm,” Ms. Roberts added.

Members voted – with little debate – to refuse the retrospective planning application and also declined to issue listed building consent for the business.

Smokies operates another branch in the car park of the Red Lion Hotel in Longton, which was granted planning permission just over a year ago. It moved to that location in November 2023 having originally opened in the grounds of the Black Bull in the village in March 2021.

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