Flintshire Council approves Mold hair salon switch to taxi office

Permission has been granted to turn a hair salon in Mold town centre into a taxi office.

Flintshire Council’s planning department has approved change of use for the premises on Wrexham Street in the town.

A planning statement prepared by JIG Architects and submitted with the application outlined the proposals.

It said: “The proposed taxi office would serve members of the public and inclusive of private bookings to support local schools and colleges and general places of work as necessary.

“Such journeys would be either pre-booked or taken from members of the visiting public from the town centre footfall.

“The ‘change of use’, would be contained within the existing ground floor of the building, and would have a public waiting area allowing customers to be seated while waiting for the taxi.

“It is suggested that the taxi office would be served with two taxis, with the view of expanding the vehicle numbers being dependent on the need and general business expansion.”

The planning statement added: “All vehicles used as part of the business will be retained by the drivers and return to the registered home of the drivers upon completing their allocated shift.

“As noted as part of the application drawings, it would be intended that local public parking areas, (pay and display including free spaces), will be utilised during lean periods of service, including driver break times. This noted, there will not be adverse impact to parking areas generally within the town centre, nor will there be any form of highways safety issues along Wrexham Street.”

Flintshire Council planning officers have granted the change of use considering it to be an appropriate use of the premises, that it does not adversely impact upon the wider street scene or the designated Mold Conservation Area.

The planning officer’s report states: “The change of use of the unit from a former retail unit to a taxi office is considered compliant with the relevant policies and is an appropriate use within Mold.

“There are few changes proposed to the main fabric of the building or external appearance which would adversely impact upon the character and or appearance of the plot or wider street scene or detract from the Mold Conservation Area and as such is compliant with policies of the Flintshire Local Development Plan.

“Highways have assessed the proposal and confirm that the additional information addresses highway concerns – recommend that any consent is granted initially on a temporary basis, to enable the Authority to monitor the situation and establish if any highway issues arise.”

A condition has been imposed that the permission is only in place for one year initially, and an application will need to be made for it to continue.

The reason for this is so that the council can retain a measure of control over the development, enabling the use to be monitored and ensuring no detriment to highway safety.

Approval was signed off by chief planning officer Andrew Farrow in a delegated decision.
By Rory Sheehan – Local Democracy Reporter (more here).