New South Shields town centre takeaway to open despite one in three kids being too fat

The decision from the national Planning Inspectorate this month (February, 2025) is linked to previously refused plans for a hot food takeaway at 79-81 Fowler Street.

The business unit was most recently occupied by Greendaze Hydroponics but has been vacant for some time.

Plans submitted back in 2023 looked to convert the building into a hot food takeaway and to install ventilation and extraction equipment linked to this use.

South Shields planners refused takeaway

However, the plans were refused by South Tyneside Council’s Planning Committee in early-2024, in line with recommendations from council officers.

Council planners had ruled that using the property as a hot food takeaway would be contrary to their policies due to the harmful impact it would have on “health and wellbeing, tackling unhealthy lifestyles and obesity”.

They cited a specific clause which is part of a council supplementary planning document (SPD) which states permission “will not be granted” for hot food takeaways in areas where the levels of obesity in year six pupils, children aged 10 and 11, is over 10 per cent.

Data from the National Child Measurement Programme (2022/2023) for the Beacon and Bents ward showed that 28.4 per cent of year six children in the area - nearly one in three - were very overweight/obese.

The council’s public health team had also objected to the hot food takeaway proposal, arguing it did not “enable and support healthy lifestyles” and noting that South Tyneside has “higher levels of obesity and a higher density of fast food outlets”.

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Council planning officers also outlined to councillors that they could not put measures in place to control or restrict a hot food takeaway to allow the business to operate and only sell healthier foods.

An appeal was later lodged against South Tyneside Council’s decision to refuse the hot food takeaway plan, and a planning inspector was appointed by the Secretary of State to rule on the matter.

Planning Inspectorate overturns council’s decision

It has since been confirmed that the planning inspector has allowed the appeal, meaning planning permission is granted and the development can move forward.

The reasoning for the decision is set out in a report published on the Planning Inspectorate’s website on February 6, 2025.

The planning inspector noted that the council’s refusal decision relied on a South Tyneside Local Plan Supplementary Planning Document but said this was for “guidance and advice rather than providing additional policies upon which planning applications can be refused”.

Although it was noted that the conflict with the council’s SPD carried “some weight in the determination of the appeal”, it was argued that the SPD could not be considered “an adopted development plan policy”.

The “absence of conflict with any identified development plan policy and the location of the appeal premises in a defined town centre location” were cited by the planning inspector as reasons the appeal should be allowed.

It was also argued that the proposal “would not prejudice the health and well-being of the local community or their ability to live a healthy lifestyle”.

The appeal decision report said: “Many factors are likely to have a bearing on obesity levels and the provision and location of hot food takeaways are only one aspect of this.

“In this instance, the location and prevalence of hot food takeaways within this particular ward which includes South Shields town centre has not been convincingly demonstrated to be a defining factor in obesity levels of children, especially considering the significant rise in the percentage of year six pupils in the ward who are overweight since the introduction of the SPD.”

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On parking and anti-social behaviour issues, the planning inspector said there was “no substantive evidence before [me] which would indicate that the proposal would give rise to additional anti-social behaviour or lead to indiscriminate parking to such an extent that would warrant dismissal of the appeal”.

The planning inspector also said there was “no reason to conclude that the proposal would significantly harm the living conditions of the occupiers of nearby properties.”

As part of the appeal decision, an hours of operation condition was added due to “the proximity of residential properties to the appeal site”.

This includes 8am to midnight, Sunday to Thursday, and 8am to 2am, Friday to Saturday (ending at 2am Sunday).

For more information on the Fowler Street planning application and appeal ruling, visit South Tyneside Council’s planning portal website and search reference: ST/0497/23/FUL