Nursery to fight plans for bar next door

CONTENTIOUS PLANS The former salon in Knowl Road which could soon be home to a bar and restaurant.

An application has been submitted to Kirklees Council to convert a former hair salon in Knowl Road into a bar with opening hours of 8am-1am.

But the chairman of Trinity Children’s centre, a day nursery which backs onto the property, is outraged at the prospect of people drinking next to a nursery during school hours.

Julie Evans said: “Their building backs onto ours and we are very concerned.

“The most important thing to us is the safety of our children. If there are people outside that have been drinking, they will be next to our building .”

She believes the possibility of broken glass and cigarette ends could also pose a threat to children walking to the nursery and nearby schools.

“It is a nightmare,” she added. “We only moved into the building last year. The last thing we want is for children to be frightened.

“We are not against someone opening a bar, just not one that’s next door to our nursery.”

Sixteen members of the public turned up to this week’s Mirfield Town Council meeting to air mixed views on the application.

Derek Adkins, who owns a nearby building said: “I live on Knowl Road and there are empty shops in the area.

“The area has been derelict and run down for a long time. The council should get behind the development.”

Another member of the public who lives in the area said: “The concern for me is in relation to noise. The application is for a licence to be open seven days a week until 1am. Residents deserve a good night’s sleep – it is not NIMBY, it is wrong for the area.”

The bar’s applicant, Mirfield Leisure Limited, said it was keen to allay people’s fears about the proposed bar.

Lisa Newby, who put in the application, said that there would be no drinking in the morning and any suggestions it would be a “rough” drinking establishment were unfounded.

She added: “My client is wanting to turn this into quite a high-end wine bar.

“We were not able to put too much detail on the application form because it would be pointless to come up with a plan if a change of use application was rejected.”

Comments can be sent into Kirklees Council’s planning department on the application until March 7.

To view the application, search 2015/90302 on the Kirklees planning website.