Plans for a new late-night takeaway in north London which would open until 3am every day have sparked fears that the already rubbish-strewn streets will only get worse. Flaming Indulge has applied to Harrow Council to open a venue on the Abbey Manufacturing Estate, an industrial estate surrounded by residential housing in Wembley – from 3pm to 3am seven days a week.
The kitchen only wants to operate as a takeaway, on platforms such as Uber Eats and Deliveroo. However, councilor Anton Anton Georgiou has urged the council to reject the plan due to fears that food packaging will be thrown into the street and residents will be disturbed by the noise of late-night delivery drivers.
He claims residents have told him they “don’t feel safe” when customers stand outside their homes eating food. Cllr Georgiou said: “I have had correspondence from residents to say they do not feel safe when they see customers waiting to collect their food and then eating the food outside their homes.
“They have also highlighted seeing empty food boxes littering their street, from customers to these businesses. This cannot be allowed to continue and get worse.”
He added: “There is (also) potential for a further increase in local traffic and noise from customers and delivery drivers visiting the premises and disturbing residents. Granting an application for this new business would mean the council would have to continue to deploy additional resources to deal with the consequences of this type of business setting up near a residential area.”
Only staff would be allowed on the premises, and customers would be expected to order food at the counter facing the street. The applicant, Shaveak Dunkley, said a plan to deal with increased noise and litter is already in place to reassure residents.
Following discussions with the council’s licensing officers, Mr Dunkley has agreed that customers would be restricted from parking outside Woodside Avenue and Woodside End to eat and will share his mobile number with neighbors if they have any problems.
Police had originally raised concerns about noise from customers coming and going in the early morning disturbing residents. But after Dunkley agreed to a number of conditions that led officers to withdraw their representation. The conditions include installing CCTV, only allowing deliveries between 9am and 6pm and providing staff with adequate training.
The application will be reviewed by Brent Council’s Liquor and Entertainment Licensing Sub-Committee next month (March 12), after which a decision will be made.
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