Parking troubles and an increase in anti-social behaviour plus the risk to health are the main concerns among residents along Caerphilly Road
A NEW takeaway and a convenience store that wishes to sell alcohol till 2am has angered residents in Birchgrove.
Fireaway, offering Italian style pizzas, and a Premier store will be located on Caerphilly Road – an area already heavily populated by fast food takeaways and restaurants.
Ping Huang, 47, has been running a chip shop —The Fisheries, with his wife Jenny since 2018. The couple and their three children—twin daughters aged 17 and a 13-year-old son—live above the takeaway.
At the rear of his house are two flue pipes, which help release harmful gases outside, and Mr Huang has raised the impact another takeaway built next door would have on his family’s health.
“The flue pipes are next to where three of my bedrooms are, and the noise is already disturbing us. If there was to be another, it would make it unbearable to live here,” Mr Huang said.
“In the summer, I won’t be able to open my window to let the air in and cool down as the smell that will come from the flue pipes will enter my windows causing my clothes and furniture to smell. All of this is going to cause more harm than good,” he explains.
This new takeaway, if approved, would mean that seven out of the 14 businesses on the small stretch of road between Coronation Road and Birchgrove Road would offer a takeaway service.
“We definitely don’t need any more takeaways in the area, we want shops that make us more of a cohesive community,” said Simon Groves, a Birchgrove resident of 32 years.
“There needs to be more independent shops, maybe a butcher or a bakers – a change from the pre-packaged stuff you get at supermarkets.”
Councillor Mike Ash-Edwards added: “The downsides associated with takeaway businesses including the additional noise, pavement littering, and the impact of increased traffic from cars and cyclists picking up home deliveries, makes this too heavy a concentration for this type of business in this location.”
The second premises due to open is a Premier convenience store, which wishes to extend its licence to serve alcohol between the hours of 6am and 2am.
Emma Gammon, committee member of The Heath Residents Association which represents over 400 residents living nearby, said: “No other store in the local area is open to sell alcohol beyond 10pm and only some public houses have a licence to sell until 11pm.
“We therefore strongly object to this new proposal. It would increase the risk of anti-social behaviour in our local community where there is a high percentage of older residents living.”
Residents have also highlighted that there is a lack of varied shops available to them on the high-street.
“There is already a Co-op opposite, and a Lidl and Aldi up the road, do we really need another convenience store?” asked Kirstie Lewis, 35, who has lived in the area since she was six years old.
“The old newsagents Bakers has now become a vape shop, and there are three nail salons within touching distance of each other.
“I never walk through the high street anymore, there’s no community feel to it like there used to be.”
Coun Ash-Edwards added: “Local councillors want to see a business area in Birchgrove which works with and respects its local community, and offers a diversity of shops and services. We do not think more takeaways or alcohol licences that run until the early hours of the morning will provide a positive benefit to either the business area itself or residents living local to it.
“This is why we have responded to local concerns and made objections to a 2am alcohol licence and yet another A3 food licence offering a takeaway service.”
