A bid to turn the garage of a house on a Preston estate into an MOT testing station has been driven out by councillors. Members of Preston City Council’s planning committee rejected the proposal – for a property on Park Drive in Lea – over concerns about the impact it would have on those living nearby.
Twenty-two people objected to the blueprint for the business, claiming it would cause noise and parking problems in the quiet residential street. Further concerns were raised that the premises would pose a health and safety risk, because of the presence of flammable liquids and the potential for hazardous material from vehicles to get into the drains.
Lea and Cottam Parish Council also tried to put the brakes on the plans, describing the commercial development “in the middle of a residential area” as “wholly inappropriate”. The authority added that the roads in the area were already congested as a result of school-related traffic.
The applicant had wanted permission to convert their brick-built garage – which has a corrugated iron roof – into a vehicle assessment area. They had claimed there was space for seven vehicles off-street within the site, but a report presented to the committee stated that “no evidence” of such capacity had been demonstrated in a car parking plan.
Town hall planning officers had recommended the committee refuse the application. In a report outlining the reasons for their assessment, officials said the proposal was “unacceptable in principle”, because it would “result in the introduction of a general industrial use in a residential area”.
The document added: “The proposed development would result in the running of an independent commercial business, six days a week…from a garage that is currently in residential use”, concluding that it would be harmful to neighbours “by way of noise and disturbance”.
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