Posted by 
A takeaway burger bar that faced having to leave the Leyland pub car park where it had set up shop has secured a reprieve.
Smokies – which specialises in ‘smash burgers’ and ‘loaded fries’ – started serving up its menu from a trailer in the grounds of Dunkirk Hall late last year.
However, the venture felt the heat after initially failing to secure planning permission – forcing its operators to seek retrospective approval to allow the business to stay put.
Read more: Trying Simply Dough’s brand-new combined cafe and kitchen in Fulwood
That bid failed in April when South Ribble Borough Council’s planning committee rejected the proposal, because the outlet was within walking distance of local schools – in breach of new national planning regulations.
The food truck itself was also deemed damaging to the Grade II-listed pub building in whose shadow it stood, at the junction of Dunkirk Lane and Schleswig Way
However, Smokies has now cooked up a compromise that has persuaded the local authority to give the outlet the green light to continue operating from the location.
The business has slashed its weekday opening hours, so that it now does not open until 5pm, compared to 2pm previously; it then trades until 9pm. At the weekend the outlet operates between 2pm and 9pm on Saturdays and 2pm and 8pm on Sundays.
Addressing the latest meeting of the planning committee at which the revised proposal was determined, the agent for the application, Graeme Thorpe, said the effect of the change was to move the hours of operation “well outside all school drop-off, lunchtime and collection periods – eliminating the direct opportunity for schoolchildren to visit”.
He told councillors on the committee that Dunkirk Hall also had a policy of strictly prohibiting anyone under the age of 18 from entering its grounds unless accompanied by an adult.
Council planning office Debbie Roberts said the authority was also now “quite comfortable” with a decision to reposition the trailer – and its associated storage cabinets – at the far end of the car park addressed concerns over the impact on the listed building.
An unspecified number of public objections were nevertheless raised to the plans – chiefly over noise and “permanent odour issues” – but environmental health officers said the pub’s own kitchen could have contributed to the reported smells. They concluded that the effect of Smokies on surrounding properties was “unlikely” to have more of an impact than Dunkirk Hall itself.
Committee member Haydn Williams said: “It’s really important that we support local businesses in this area – and especially the licensed trade; I know how difficult it is at the moment.”
With little debate, planning permission and listed building consent were both unanimously granted.
Support Blog Preston: Keep our community reporting going and view the website without any adverts too. Sign up for a membership today.
Stay updated: Keep in touch directly with the latest headlines from Blog Preston, join our WhatsApp channel and subscribe for our twice-a-week email newsletter. Both free and direct to your phone and inbox. Help us report too, by contacting us if you see something we should be reporting on.
Read more: See the latest Preston news and headlines
