Pub appeal could be contested

It is being recommended that councillors agree reasons to contest the company’s appeal to the Planning Inspectorate after a committee has not determined whether the pub chain can change the use of a doctor’s surgery on Austhorpe Road in Cross Gates. The North and East Plans Panel has discussed the proposal at three previous meetings, but not decided. The recommendation was revealed in a report drafted for the panel’s meeting today. Coun Janette Walker (Independent) said: “Leeds City Council has failed in its duty to determine this application. The applicant, wanting a decision, appeals. Leeds City Council then leaps into action to defend its own inability to decide the matter. All the time remember public money, our money, is being wasted here.”

The report for the meeting at Civic Hall from 1.30pm says that the plan could cause “serious loss of amenity to nearby residents” and a neighbouring dental practice.

The panel deferred its decision in August after suggesting the company reconsider various aspects of the application, including opening hours.

A Leeds City Council spokesman said that it “has an obligation to take into account the range of views presented to plans panels.

“We also have to follow the obligatory legislative processes and guidance set down when making decisions.”