Plans for a new takeaway in Bacup have been stopped due to high obesity levels in the area.
Planning permission was refused to open a branch of Woody’s Pizza on St James Street in Bacup. The business already operates in Hebden Bridge and Todmorden and was hoping to open a new site at the former Old Boot café and wine bar.
The decision was uploaded to Rossendale Borough Council’s planning portal on December 16. It states the decision was made due to the takeaway’s location in the Greensclough ward where levels of obesity in Year 6 pupils is 20% – above a policy threshold of 15%.
It further states the proposed new takeaway would “detract to an unacceptable extent from the living conditions of residents living in the vicinity of the site”. Applications for new hot food takeaways should also not open in areas where the rate of obesity is higher than 10% for Reception class age pupils.
For this area, the rate for 2021/22 – 23/24 is at 11.6%. According to some of the documents, Rossendale ranks in the bottom 30% in the country for health in 2021.
The decision adds: “The comings and goings of patrons, and the noise and disturbance from the operations, would unacceptably affect the living conditions of residential neighbours, contrary to the requirements of Policies ENV1 and R5 of the Rossendale Local Plan.”
In further objection, Officer Mrs Claire Bradley stated there are 26 existing takeaways in Bacup and the proposals will not add “anything to the diversity of offer in Bacup”. This is contrary to the previous wine bar which “was a welcome addition to the evening offer”.
Woody’s uploaded a ‘healthy take away food statement’ to the plans, showing their range of vegan food and healthy offerings. It states: “At Woody’s we believe in offering dairy free, gluten free and healthy offerings. We have always had a huge focus on making sure we offer as many vegan and plant based options as we do any meat or dairy options.”
The takeaway states their sauces, dips and doughs are made in house and do not use large quantities of sugars, stabilisers and salts. It adds: “Everything is made with fresh produce bought from local markets and suppliers.
“Nothing is made with any MSG and all the nasty stuff you find in frozen bought on produce. We care about what we make and what we serve.
“Buying from us is a whole lot more healthier than going to the supermarket and buying these cheap alternatives that have a million ingredients and are full of fats, sugars and salts.”
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