A COUNCILLOR has breathed a sigh of relief after a plan to change conditions on a shop unit in Cradley’s Windmill Hill was thrown out amid fears there could be three hot food outlets sited side by side along the busy road.

Mohammad Ali’s bid to remove planning conditions on the unit, between Saporito Pizza and Vakas Balti and Tandoori, to enable the shop to be an outlet in its own right rather than part of the existing pizza parlour was rejected by members of Dudley Council’s development control committee on Monday.

The property owner had built the infill unit, which for a time operated as a fish and chip shop, on land between the two food outlets and only gained permission for the development retrospectively when he appealed to Bristol’s Planning Inspectorate.

However, this week he was seeking permission to change the regulations preventing him from sub-dividing or selling off the unit as a separate entity, rather than as a food counter within the existing pizza takeaway.

Ward councillor Tim Crumpton spoke out against the plan and said: “I’m really pleased it’s been thrown out. “If we’d allowed that to go through it would have given the green light for anybody to start a takeaway anywhere.

“I hope he doesn’t try and take it to Bristol. If he does, I hope it would be overturned. I hope this is the end.”

He added: “It’s a daft place for a fish and chip shop. It’s going to cause major traffic problems and that’s what I’m worried about.”

At Monday’s meeting, committee chairman Councillor Qadar Zada said: “This feels like a very long-winded way of getting to two takeaways – I don’t think this site is suitable for two takeaways as lower down there’s a borough accident blackspot.”

But Mr Ali, who said he does plan to integrate the unit into Saporito’s but wants the freedom to change in the future, is considering appealing as the councillors voted against the officer’s recommendation.

He said: “I would not have wasted my time and money submitting the application if I thought it was going to be refused.”

A planning officer’s report concluded that the approval “would accord with the planning policy framework, and is, therefore, considered acceptable in principle and would not result in the bunching of two or more hot food takeaways, cause undue harm to neighbour amenity or highway safety.”

Mr Ali said the planners accepted that Vakas was essentially a restaurant, with only a very small part of the business being takeaway. He added there was support from a number of local people for a fish and chip shop.