Residents Association

Cross Gates Watch

Residents Association

www.crossgateswatch.org

37-41, Austhorpe Road, Leeds 15: Planning application for change of use on ground floor from Doctors surgery/Pharmacy to Public Bar, two storey rear extension; pavement seating area etc. Application No. 15/05889/FU

Wetherspoons, a national pub chain, have applied for planning permission to convert the former Church View surgery on Austhorpe Road into a pub.

Many of you may have visited one of their establishments in the city centre. They are OK in a suitable city centre location, but they do not export well to a quiet suburban local centre like Cross Gates, closely surrounded by residential properties

They intend occupying the whole of the ground floor of the building and part of the first floor, with an extension to the back and the introduction of a paved seating area where the existing car park is.

They have allocated no parking within the scheme and intend to open very long hours (Sunday to Wednesday 7am through to 12.30 am the next morning, Thursday to Saturday 7 am to 01.30 am the next morning plus extra hours at Christmas and Bank Holidays); the plans show a customer area of 400 square metres. This will accommodate in the order of 400 customers. It’s Big.

To be precise, if it goes ahead, this development will be highly disadvantageous for a significant number of people who live in Cross Gates, or come into the local centre to conduct their business. There are several reasons why we say this:

1.  CONFLICT WITH RESIDENTS: the site is incredibly close to existing residences. The Cross Gates local centre boundary runs immediately behind this site: you could not get any closer to residences! There are even three dwellings physically attached to the building. The noise of hundreds of users will echo across a wide area (from pub and external paved seating area). People having to go to work with an early rise will get practically no sleep at all and at closing time the noise of people scattering to home will be magnified by cars starting, and the hooting and door slamming of taxis.

2. HOURS OF OPENING: the hours applied for are ridiculously long, which means that foot traffic (at closing time) will migrate down initially down North Road , South View and Church Lane in the early hours, but even further afield to The Drive, Park Avenue and Pendas Way. This will inevitably lead to increased anti social behaviour, noise nuisance and criminal damage (as we had before the Manston was closed down). When the bins are out the night before collection these will be pushed over.

3. CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR: we live in a good local community, where anti- social behaviour and criminal damage according to the Neighbourhood Policing team is lower than average (reports of Criminal Damage 24/11/2014 to 23/6/2015 (7 months), 16 occurrences). As other pubs in the area will close earlier than this one, drinkers will drift there to extend drinking time. Criminal damage and anti-social behaviour will increase substantially at the very time when proposals are advanced for the closure of Killingbeck police station and the inevitable reduction in police resources to combat problems. We’ve had quiet since the Manston closed down: we don’t want what we had before.

4. PARKING: the plans show no spaces, apart from the 3 reserved for the Dental Practice. It will be argued that car-borne staff and customers will use the shopping centre car parks. But these are paid for spaces! Pay? Not likely! They will park outside our houses in the evening and weekends, and during the day they will park just outside the yellow lined area (eg; other side of the park). Staff will do this, as they cannot afford all day parking in the centre. The problems you have parking outside your house now, or of people parking in front of your driveway, are going to get a lot worse.

5. TRAFFIC CONFLICT: movement along Austhorpe Road will be impeded. There is a bus stop outside, and busy pedestrian traffic along the pavement. Pavement sitting areas at the front of the building will mean people waiting for buses or walking along the pavement will have to walk the gauntlet of close stares. Smokers will go outside and stand on the pavement and sit on the wall. Delivery vehicles will interfere with vehicular movement along Austhorpe Road.

6 CONFLICT WITH SOCIAL/HEALTH FACILITIES: most of the upper floor of the building is a dental surgery. Significant proportions of the population in the area are registered here, and will have to enter and leave via an entrance enclosed on both sides by a pub. It will not be possible to have windows open upstairs because of the noise and smell of cooking from downstairs. There are three care homes and a nursing home nearby where the residents will be disturbed by late night activity.

All in all, the application is highly unsatisfactory from the point of view of the residents. We shall be lodging a strong objection, but to make it clear that the residents generally are concerned, as many people as possible returning the attached letter will be very valuable. You can of course, and better, draft your own version of this, but if you have not time you can send the letter. Make sure you sign it and insert your address. Get anyone in the house over 18 to sign. NOTE: LETTERS WITHOUT ADDRESS OR SIGNATURE(S) WILL BE REJECTED BY THE CITY. You can return the letter in the following way:

1. Post it yourself to the address at the top of the letter.

2. Send it by email to Make sure you have inserted your name and address in the email. This will mean you have to type it yourself, but it is only a short letter.

3. Let us return the letter for you in a batch. You can pop the letter (in a sealed envelope if you wish) in the letter boxes at: 1 The Drive; 44 The Drive; 7 Park Avenue; 40 Church Lane; 29 Chestnut Ave; 39 Marshall St.; 152 Austhorpe Rd.; 1 North Terrace; 53 Pendas Way, 27 Biddenden Road.

Since we have only until 20th November, time is short, so please do it now. If you are not on our

email circulation list and want to be, please drop the form which arrived with this flier in at one of the addresses listed, or fill in the one on our web site at the address above.

YOUR ENVIRONMENT IS ONE OF THE MOST VALUABLE THINGS YOU HAVE. FIGHT FOR IT!!