Restaurant plan ‘on back burner’

6:37pm Wednesday 27th August 2008

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Plans to re-locate an established curry house in Bingley have been left on the back burner after it emerged residents are living illegally at the new site.

Bosses at the Sharma restaurant, which has been operating for 20 years, were stunned when it was revealed at a planning meeting yesterday that people were living above their planned new restaurant.

They thought they would be given the thumbs up to re-locate from Myrtle Walk to Clarke House, Keighley Road, after Council officers recommended the move.

But their dreams have been shattered after plans were deferred.

Now they have until September 15 to move out to make way for the impending multi-million pound 5Rise development.

Clarke House, which houses The Haven hairdressers, has three flats on the first floor instead of three business suites, as believed by Bradford Council.

Because occupants have lived in the flats for more than four years, they have a right to be consulted on the proposed change of use.

Senior planning officer Martyn Burke said: “There is nothing on the outside to indicate whether they are businesses or residential.

“We have a letter from one of the occupants who has clearly lived there since 2000. Our problem is the flats don’t have planning permission.”

Supporting the restaurant bosses was deputy leader for the district’s Labour Party, Councillor Imran Hussain.

He said he was “seriously concerned” about the decision to defer the application.

He said: “The restaurant employs eight people and they have to shut down even though officers have clearly recommended approval for them to re-locate.

“The fact that people are living there has no bearing on the application.”

Bingley ward Councillor David Heseltine spoke out on behalf of those living in the flats. He said: “Their interests must be taken into consideration. The Sharma is an important Bingley business, but we have to respect the rights of the people who live above the premises.”

Following the decision, restaurant licensee Asghar Ali Hussain said: “This was such a shock. We are not happy at the way it has been handled.

“Businesses have come and gone in Bingley but we have stayed, there is a definite need.

“We need to do something urgently before we lose all the staff. We will go and look at all the options.”

Objector Bryon Shaw, 76, raised the issue of the flats. He said: “We are going to the ombudsman and our MP. I think the Council has made a mess of it.”