Events venue Rose Barn on the A142 at Sutton is facing a thorny future after planners told them continued use will result in uncontrolled parking of cars and coaches and threaten highway safety.
Sid Bibby Turf and Landscaping withdrew their original retrospective application in May and it is due back before East Cambs Council planning committee on September 7 but again with refusal being recommended.
Julie Barrow, senior planning officer, will advise councillors that parking and highways have still not been resolved. She is also concerned about intensifying the use of the existing accesses to the east and west of the site.
She says even more traffic would be a danger to road users.
Ms Barrow says that noise, disturbance and odours from the outdoor entertaining and cooking area would have a “significantly detrimental effect” on neighbours.
She says the events business operates along a turfing and landscape contracting business with several events being held there in the past 18 months
The revised application includes additional parking and shows how both elements of the business can operate alongside each other.
Witcham Parish Council is objecting on the grounds of highways, noise, and disturbance, smells ands fumes and say the events location is incompatible and unacceptable.
Sutton Parish Council also objected and the county highways authority says it retains concern for both cars and coach parking despite improvements made to the earlier plans.
The highways authority says a site inspection confirmed issues with visibility and without improvements to the access with the A142 and further parking provision it retains their objection.
Rose Barn says it will restrict events to 35 a year and all functions would end at midnight, with most taking place on Saturdays.
Coaches would be discouraged they have told planners, whilst pointing out that HGVs are legally able to access the site anyway for the landscaping business.
The planning officer, however, concluded that continued use for events “is likely to have an impact on the amenity of residents living close by, in particular at the adjacent kennels”.
“It is clear that the events venue has been operating for some time and that a significant number of events have been held on the site,” says Ms Barrow.
“The applicant has limited the number through the use of temporary event notices for licensing purposes. By regularising the proposal through the planning system the number of events that will be held is likely to increase”.
She also said the building in which the events are held was granted permission on the basis it was required for the landscaping and turfing business “and a condition to that effect was imposed”.
The planning committee meets at 2pm on September 7 at The Grange, Nutholt Lane, Ely.
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