A POPULAR restaurant in Stockton Heath has reapplied for permission to construct a balcony after initially being denied by the council.

La Boom, on London Road, submitted an application to construct a first-floor balcony in 2022, but this was thrown out by the planning department at Warrington Borough Council.

Now, however, La Boom has re-submitted plans to have permission to build a balcony - though these have since been revised.

Warrington Guardian: The restaurant opened in 2022The restaurant opened in 2022 (Image: Newsquest)

In the first instance, planning permission was refused by the council's planning bosses on the grounds that: "The proposed balcony would have an unacceptable impact on the privacy of adjoining neighbours due to its proximity towards habitable room windows on the opposite side of London Road.

"The impact on residential amenity would be unacceptably harmful."

Planning officers also said: "The proposed development, by virtue of its scale and design, would have an unduly prominent appearance on the street scene, which would also obscure the front elevation of the existing building."

In the new application, however, La Boom's owners have included the following mitigations: 

  • The proposed balcony has been significantly reduced in scale. The roof structure has been omitted and the overall length of the balcony is shortened from 13.2m to 9.2 giving a reduction in proposed floor space of 49 per cent.
  • The northern end of the balcony, directly facing habitable windows of the neighbouring properties on the opposite side of the road has been omitted. The existing roller canopy has been retained.

The portion of the site in question has, according to the planning documents, been vacant since June 2021 and is therefore underused.

This planning application is currently under consideration by Warrington Borough Council's planning department - the public consultation period ends on Tuesday, May 27, with a full decision due by Monday, July 31.