Fears that a former Huddersfield carpet shop will become an awful and unwanted shops have been raised as new plans await a decision.
The application relates to the former premises of Marsh Carpets at 82-84 Westbourne Road in Marsh which closed its doors for good in September, it states. The plans seek to convert the first floor into two homes, with the ground floor to be sub-divided into three shops.
A supporting document explains: “The first floor loss is due to the carpet shop closing. The client tried to rent the shop as a whole and there was no potential tenant. So the property has been divided into smaller shops to allow for cheaper rent and be more viable for small business owners.”
One objection has been made by a local resident who wrote: “This shop is going to be converted into two to three shops…but yet there are already some empty shops on that street, so are these going to be nail bars, vape shops, convenience shops or even a barbers…we do not need more awful shops on that street…the ones we have are always empty. So on that I strongly object.”
While Kirklees Council’s Environmental Health department haven’t submitted an objection, they have raised several concerns. These focus on preventing noise, setting opening hours and restricting the times of construction work on site.
The same goes for the council’s Highways department which again says it has no objection in principle but feels the plans provide “insufficient information”. They note the absence of rear access to the proposed bin store and a lack of detail on where the bins would be put out.
A target date for a decision to be made on the plans was set for December 12 but this is yet to be made.
Get all the latest and breaking Huddersfield news straight to your inbox by signing up to our daily newsletter here.