Litter, noise and traffic objections fail to stop shipping container kitchen near South Shields police station
Plans for a “commercial kitchen” operating from shipping containers have been given the green light by South Tyneside Council planning bosses, despite concerns from neighbours.
The local authority’s planning department this week approved an application for an address listed as 1 Amna Buildings in South Shields, near the town’s police station.
Plans submitted to the council had sought planning permission for the “retention of four shipping containers”, the “addition of fume extraction equipment to those containers and [the] change of use of the site”.
Applicants were seeking permission to change the use from general industrial to a mixed-use development and to use the shipping containers as a “commercial kitchen with ancillary storage and sanitary accommodation”.
A design and access statement submitted with the plan said the commercial kitchen would “produce food for parties, functions, and similar events” and that the unit would be a single space incorporating a “kitchen/production area, food storage and preparation area, and sanitary accommodation.”
During a council consultation exercise on the plans, there were no objections from the council’s highways authority but a condition was recommended to ensure “there will be no direct sales to the public”, to help “avoid potential indiscriminate parking on the public highway” and “related nuisance and road safety concerns”.
Elsewhere, the council’s public health team recommended the plans for refusal after referencing childhood obesity statistics for the Beacon and Bents ward, where the development was proposed, and the council’s wider drive to “promote healthier living and tackle obesity by managing the proliferation of hot food takeaways”.
There were also three public representations in objection from residents at Regent Court near the site raising concerns about extra traffic, noise from deliveries, increased litter and odours, the proposed opening hours, car parking availability and more.
One objector’s comment said the development would “spill odour, waste and attract vermin into my neighbourhood” and that no amendments had been made to the proposal to “address my concerns and change my stance.”
After considering the planning application, and assessing it against planning policies, South Tyneside Council’s planning department approved it on May 13, 2025.
Council planners, in a council decision report, said the proposal was for a “commercial kitchen and not a hot food takeaway” and that the points made about hot food takeaways, under planning policy, would “not be applicable in this instance”.
It was also noted that commercial kitchens on industrial land were considered to be acceptable and that a hot food takeaway use would “require planning permission in its own right”.
The council decision report clarified that “were the premises to operate as a hot food takeaway rather than a commercial kitchen this could be investigated under the council’s planning enforcement protocol”.
On parking and highway safety matters, council planners noted concerns had been raised by council highways officers about parking, the “unacceptability of individuals arriving at the site via private car” and other matters.
Council planning documents referenced comments from the applicant’s agent which said there was “no intention to provide individual sales to the public” and that waste would be stored securely.
Although the highway authority requested a condition “restricting sales from the commercial kitchen use to individual members of the public”, council planners said a condition was not considered “reasonable, or likely enforceable”.
A condition was recommended by council planners to prevent other uses on the wider site “with the potential to generate a lot more traffic and car parking than light industrial or office uses”, including retail shops and “café/restaurant with ancillary hot food takeaway” uses.
The council report said that subject to this condition, and another condition requiring car parking provision to be set out prior to the commercial kitchen use starting, the development would be “acceptable with regard to car parking”.
The council’s environmental health team said the proposed unit is “over 50m away from the closest sensitive property with intervening buildings which will provide a barrier to any noise produced” and that extraction equipment would ensure odours would be “mitigated to ensure no impact on residents”.
Council planners also noted the application’s intention for the development to “open 8am to 8pm daily”.
It was argued that it would not be “appropriate and reasonable to control the commercial kitchen’s opening hours in this instance” via a planning condition, “given the industrial nature of the proposal and designated industrial use of the site, along with neighbouring industrial users which do not appear to have time restrictions on their operations”.
The council decision report adds: “Having regard for the above it is considered that the proposal would result in no significant harm in terms of visual or residential amenity, or highway safety.
“As a result, it is considered that the proposed development complies with all relevant local and national planning policy and guidance.”
Under planning conditions, the development must be brought forward within three years.
For more information on the planning application and council decision, visit South Tyneside Council’s planning portal website and search reference: ST/0098/24/FUL