Plans have moved forward to change an Eltham shop into a restaurant, despite a local woman saying she gets “continuous headaches” from the “overwhelming” level of noise from a convenience store and takeaway already on the strip.
Greenwich Council has approved plans for a chimney flue to be added to a window shop on Avery Hill Road, Eltham, as the owner intends to change the space into a restaurant.
The plans were discussed at a planning meeting for Greenwich Council on June 27. Council officers noted at the meeting that the application to add the chimney flue did not relate to the change of use of the site, as planning permission was not required for the shop being changed into a restaurant.
The decision to add the chimney flue was deferred from a planning meeting last March to allow the planning committee to visit the area. Labour Councillor Lauren Dingsdale, representing the Eltham Town and Avery Hill ward, spoke at the meeting on behalf of a resident who claimed to have lived with her partner behind the row of shops on Avery Hill Road for the past 16 years.
The resident said in their statement: “Our kitchen table is my home workstation. But the noise of the machines which, particularly during the warmer months, penetrates my house through the walls and the closed windows, resulting in continuous headaches. As a result, I no longer sit at my kitchen table and I purchased a cardboard collapsible desk in my bedroom.”
The woman said that they saw their objection to the current plans as their final chance to defend their home from being “completely overwhelmed” by the noise of machines and equipment from the parade of shops. She said they were already having issues with noise from the chimney flue of the takeaway currently on the street, as well as from the fridges at the convenience store.
Labour Councillor Sammy Backon asked council officers at the meeting on June 27 how residents would be protected against the vibrations of the new extraction system. In response, council officers said the flue would be mounted to the building wall with “anti-vibration fixings” and that it was recommended the fixture would be double-cased to minimise the impact of vibrations. Labour Councillor Gary Dillon, chair of the planning board, also highlighted the opportunity to review the noise from the flue after it had been added.
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Cllr Dillon said at the meeting: “We’ve got a review at three months, but I think there is an acceptable noise level and at any time that can be reported. So the noise limit is permanent, and there’s a three month inspection then if there’s any other comments or anything else is brought to our attention after the three months, then Environmental Health will take up the option.”
At the meeting, the planning committee voted to approve the kitchen fume extraction system for the shop on Avery Hill Road. A condition was added that the council will test the flue three months after it is installed, with the power to ban the use of the extractor until it complies with the noise level that has been agreed upon.
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