Demolition order for cafe built without permission
The development has to be demolished by 30 June, the council says
- Published
A cafe which was built without planning permission in a Bradford conservation area must be demolished, the city council has said.
The Chai Village, which is a cafe constructed using a shipping container, a seating area and a large LED screen, was built on a vacant site on Thornton Road in 2022.
It was built on the site of a former mill in the Goitside Conservation Area, on the outskirts of the city centre.
A government appointed planning inspector said the design of the development did not "reflect the character and appearance of the Conservation Area".
An enforcement notice ordering the cafe's demolition was issued after five attempts to gain retrospective planning permission had failed.
The first application for a cafe on the site was refused by Bradford Council in late 2021, with officers saying it was “out of keeping” with the much larger buildings that make up the protected area.
They also argued it could hinder future development of a key site in the city, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
'Limited public benefits'
Two later planning applications for the development were also refused, with officers raising issues such as the impact of traffic due to the development and concerns about the large screen.
A retrospective fourth application was submitted last year, but planners said it was too similar to the previously refused schemes and they declined to even consider it.
An appeal against one of the refusals was then submitted, but that was also dismissed by a government appointed inspector.
In their ruling, the inspector said: “The appellant has not clearly outlined benefits of the proposal, but I acknowledge there would be some limited public benefits.
"Nonetheless, the benefits are not sufficient to outweigh the harm.”
An enforcement notice issued by Bradford Council requires demolition of the development to take place by 30 June.
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