A FAST food chain’s bid to open a branch until 3am every day has been quashed by Caerphilly County Borough Council planners, who said the move would make the restaurant’s trading hours a “clear outlier”.
Pepe’s Chicken had argued its takeaway, on Caerphilly’s Cardiff Road, should be granted extended opening hours “due to the consumer demand for its food”.
It was also alleged other hospitality businesses in the town centre already have permission to stay open past the 11pm limit currently in place for Pepe’s.
Council planning officers disagreed, however, claiming nearby businesses were either not comparable to a fast food restaurant and takeaway, or that they “clearly… would not operate” past 11.30pm, even on weekends.
Three neighbours objected to Pepe’s bid for an extension, council documents show.
Objectors complained there was already an “over-proliferation of takeaways along Cardiff Road” and claimed extending Pepe’s opening hours would contribute to “further saturating the market”.
They also raised concerns that a takeaway open until 3am could “attract people leaving the pubs and exacerbate noise disturbance”.
Council planners agreed that the proposals were “likely to introduce additional noise” as well as “the potential for antisocial behaviour at a time of day that local residents would usually expect to be quieter”.
The council refused the application for planning permission “by virtue of noise nuisance and general disturbance”.
