A MAN has appealed against the council after his plans to convert an empty building into a chicken shop were refused.

Mr S Raveendrakumar submitted a planning application last year to convert an empty building, which previously housed Headington’s post office, into a takeaway chicken shop.

The application also asked to install an extractor fan in the building.

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Oxford City Council rejected the proposal to convert the property at 142 London Road, which was most recently a vape shop called Oxford Vapours, into a takeaway.

Now Mr Raveendrakumar has launched an appeal against the council’s decision. A hearing date is yet to be confirmed.

The council rejected the initial planning application for several reasons.

These included the absence of an 'odour assessment' in the plans and failure to demonstrate how waste would ‘feasibly be stored’ on the site.

The council said that because the applicant did not provide an odour assessment, there was no evidence that smells from the cooking would be adequately treated so that no harm was caused to neighbours.

It also said the proximity of the takeaway's kitchen window to neighbouring residential properties would be problematic as the distance between the takeaway’s kitchen and the surrounding residential area would result in an ‘unacceptable impact on the amenity of neighbouring properties’ because of noise and disturbance.

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In his initial application, Mr Raveendrakumar said that as many five people could be employed in the takeaway and that usual business hours would be 11am to 12 midnight.

After the initial application was submitted, one nearby resident – Dr Xiangqian Liu from a nearby block of flats on London Road – objected to the plans.

Dr Liu said there would be too much noise and smell caused by the extractor fan.

The London Road post office closed in 2016, reopening in the Co-op supermarket.

After this, the property was turned into a vape shop, by a young entrepreneur who owned stores all over the county, including in Witney and Abingdon.

The vape shop made the ‘tough decision’ in June 2020 not to reopen due to the effects the pandemic had on retail stores.

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