A decision on whether a restaurant in Wilmslow town centre will be allowed to retain their outdoor drinking and dining terrace is due to be made by the Northern Planning Committee next week.
Sotto opened the outdoor dining and dining terrace on the grassed area at the front of their Wareham Street restaurant in May 2021, when Covid restrictions were lifted, on an area of protected open space.
The Italian and Spanish restaurant, which opened in April 2018, was retrospectively granted planning permission for the alfresco dining area with decking and a canopy in April 2022. However, the current approval restricts the use of the outdoor area for a period of 18 months, which is due to expire on 22nd October 2023.
Sotto is now seeking consent to change the permission to permanent so they can retain the structure, stating "the development would encourage longevity for the existing business and would have a positive impact on Wilmslow Town Centre."
Members of the Northern Planning Committee will consider the application for the second time - having failed to reach a decision at their meeting in March.
Instead they referred the decision to a later meeting to enable owners of Sotto to:
- 1. To resolve the maintenance/protection/care of the trees on site
- 2. Submit information to identify the economic benefits and justification for the proposal
- 3. To identify mitigation for the loss of open space in other open spaces
The owners have subsequently submitted further information, however the Planning Officer is still recommending refusal of the application at the Northern Planning on Wednesday, 5th July, stating "The Local Planning Authority consider that the proposed materials would not be appropriate for a permanent structure and the development would be contrary to policies regarding the protection of open green spaces."
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
Take a look at the building demise of Wilmslow with dilapidated premises of pubs, offices and banks…. Barclays just sings welcome to Wilmslow !!!!
Seems strange planning has been given to another Italian restaurant doubling in size and height..
Seems strange, don’t you think
CLASS IT IS NOT LOOKING LIKE A SECOND HAND GREEN HOUSE
As far as I am aware the structure was a temporary addition during the Covid period
It is a blot on the landscape ,with visitors to Wilmslow asking us what it is and why its allowed to continue as in no way does it add to the areas character standing out like a sore thumb .
It also reduces the already l limited parking as is on two or more parking bays .
There to little green space in the town as it is !!!!!!!!
Let’s kiss it goodby .
At a time, when the hospitality industry is going through such difficult times, the Council need to be showing support for the hard pressed business community.
The planning officer needs to give his head a wobble.
This isn't a 'restaurant' - it's a CARAVAN that someone has parked on the grass space by the traffic lights in the centre of Wilmslow!
When are the owners going to come and take it away?
See https://www.wilmslow.co.uk/news/article/23377/decision-due-on-plans-for-holiday-lodges-on-green-belt-site?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter1495
No doubt, if the incentive is high enough, these applications may both end up being decided by someone maybe hundreds of miles away, unrelated/unfamiliar with the area who apparently works by yet another set of 'standards' which more often than not comes up with the 'right' answer. It's a shambles and a sham.
I personally don't think it appropriate for yet another [essentially] 'outside eating establishment' to be sited at a busy 4-lane traffic intersection that bases it's right to continue (on temporary permission basis) granted during a once in a lifetime health emergency episode. Duncan Penn made his choice and moved to France 12 years ago but needs to appreciate there are now many outside dining/eating opportunities in Wilmslow and environs "..here in France there are many differences all for the better"....I see they are rampaging and rioting/burning in the streets...again!
Where you pay extra to sit on the front of restaurant to enable you to inhale more traffic fumes than those in the cheep seats at the back,
Where local planning is so often decided by official's with sticky palms
and rioting is a way of getting your own ways
Thank god we here in this part of the world are in general a little more advanced
I have canvassed several local people who like me wish Duncan well in utopia but hope he stays out of Wilmslow as his opinion s of no consequence here .
That’s all from me, I’m off to continue enjoying my French life. Night night UK.
Last time I looked Wilmslow wasn't a holiday/vacation destination unlike your traditional mobile/portable home localities, more often than not, the coast. The Saltersley Farm application is merely a means of circumventing the planning Laws for gain - it's building on the Green Belt albeit domicile structures of a 'temporary' nature, they still require services, access, even postal addresses unlike the fields they despoil [I haven't ever seen any revert to nature so effectively it's a permanent change regardless of the claimed transient nature of the structures).
There are numerous examples in the area of this type of otherwise 'green/wooded' land exploitation - if that is classed as progress then it's a sad day for the Cheshire countryside and an indictment of lax/inadequate planning Laws.
Comments such as “Little green Space… needs to go… looks horrible … I object to the closure”
It’s pleasing to see that “The anti-anything mob” still exist. What a joke. Only time and evolution will rid our community of such views. Change is hard. Live a little, embrace it, encourage it, support it.
Do us all favour in the spirit of progression and positivity. Remove yourself from here and even better - find a far northern uninhabited island and migrate quickly.
You are entitled to your opinion and to share it. So am I and I will even if you don't like it.
I'm not anti-anything. I have dined there and liked the external dining area. But it's no longer an external dining area. It's a building that was built without planning permission and is contrary to planning law.
If they want to have a larger restaurant then get a larger building. There are plenty available in Wilmslow such as the empty restaurant on Water Lane.
Every time I am in the Indian restaurant all I see is a few people sitting in this large monstrosity whilst the actual restaurant is empty of customers so I fail to see the need for this extra capacity.
Graham - nice open space? You must be deluded. The land / space you are referencing is a tiny parcel of land, sandwiched between a busy road, a kitchen showroom, a few other restaurants…amongst other businesses and some parking. It’s hardly a nice green space to enjoy - to pretend otherwise is misleading and quite frankly bordering on stupidity.
Surely free speech and expression of opinion is everyone’s right without abusive comeback . As I child I was told that manners makes the man .
If the green space returns to the area in question perhaps the addition of a bench or two so those who would make offensives comment could sit in quiet reflection before there next rant .
Foot note
For those who see this as an expectable visual experience in the area .
Spec savers is in Grove Street
England is a Green and pleasant land every little helps to keep it that way
I do remember the patch of land before the terrace, it was used by occasional dog walkers mostly. I never saw any people picnicking there in the preceding 20 years.
Some don't like the aesthetics, beauty is always in the eye of the beholder but everyone I know likes it and unlike some commentators, can even work out what it is!
The way some of the posts are up in their
NIMBY arms, you'd think they were talking about the Lost Gardens of Heligan, not a piece of previously underused land by a traffic intersection that is actually now providing employment to people and enjoyment to many.
Perhaps other areas of the town centre can be landscaped better to provide compensation for those are so massively troubled by this frankly wonderful addition to the town centre.
Personally speaking, my opinion is that it is you who are deluded.
The piece of land had been well maintained and previously used By Emmerson for a Christmas Lights display.
Planning does not judge the applicant. It only judges the building.
Therefore, this is not a judgement on Sotto, their food or their business model. Full planning approval is ONLY for the building. And it is permanent. So is not linked to Sotto and they have no obligation to trade there. If they close down or move premises, this structure can remain and be used for another commercial purpose.
Also, granting full approval for a temporary structure would make it far easier to obtain permission for a new permanent building. And it would not have to be for outside dining either. It could just as easily be for a new solicitor’s office or an estate agency.
So, the real decision is:
Do you want to keep the green space or do you want a building?
In my view, I would consider what the people of Wilmslow in 50 years’ time would prefer.
In doing that, I think they would be rather horrified at us, if we made this decision based only on the fleeting popularity of a restaurant.
Mark
Cllr Mark Goldsmith
Residents of Wilmslow
Wilmslow West & Chorley
For those of us old enough to remember (and before Emerson got their hands on it) the present 'green' site of Sotto was, perhaps 60 or so years back, a busy three story mixed-use commercial property.
If we're talking green space, perhaps I could share the photo of the four mature trees that were hacked down today at Little Stanneylands for more housing? They almost certainly contributed far much more to greenery and combating climate change than the grass under the Sotto decking.
Cllr Goldsmith - let's take your 50-year view as given. Can you confirm for those less well-versed in planning minutiae whether a temporary extension for a number of years could be granted? That would allow the present arrangement to continue without burdening the residents of 2073 with a decision to make.