Former chip shop to be converted into car wash amid 'dangerous' road fears

Dorset Council has given the green light for change of use of the former Littlesea Fish Bar takeaway - but neighbours, the local ward councillor and the owners of nearby Littlesea Holiday Park fear additional traffic will exacerbate existing road safety problems. It comes after a woman was tragically killed near to the site by a reversing lorry in November last year.

The application, approved on Tuesday, included a retrospective request for permission to replace the shop front with a roller shutter door.

READ MORE - Calls for yellow lines at industrial estate where woman was fatally hit by lorry 

Plans show there is space for five cars to be washed on the forecourt outside, with space for valeting two cars inside. The business is permitted to open between 8am until 6pm every day, and will employ up to five members of staff.

Dorset Council said 12 objections were received. Neighbours fear the business could exacerbate problems with reduced driving visibility, posing a threat to pedestrians and road users.

A spokesman for Bourne Leisure, operators of the holiday park, said it is "vital that there is safe access" for its guests, of which there are said to be 50,000 each season, as well as the park's 300 staff members.

As reported, in July this year an inquest found that a pedestrian, Sarah Lewis, 62, of Weymouth, was killed when she was hit by a lorry reversing into McKay Close.

The coroner noted the driver of the lorry had performed a manoeuvre due to the number of parked cars in the area, and that Dorset Council has since added yellow lines to prevent too many cars parking there.

The fatality was described as "an accident waiting to happen" by one neighbour, who said she had lived in Lynch Lane for 12 years and watched it get "progressively worse and more dangerous," adding: "We have a holiday park with families walking up and down the road, we have an equestrian centre with horses trying to be exercised, and then us, the residents, with animals and children trying to go about our lives without getting clobbered by speeding drivers.

"I've lost count of the times I've walked past a concealed entrance on this road and almost been hit because of the amount of cars parked up blocking the views of the driver."

Another neighbour said she had been involved in a crash on Lynch Lane, adding: "I had my car smashed into by a goods vehicle reversing out of Mackay Way, which was due to the parked cars blocking the driver's vision, resulting in me having to have a new wing and also medical attention from the impact."

One claimed that drivers blocking access to her property had verbally abused her upon being asked to move.

Another neighbour said: "The area of Lynch Lane and the surrounding industrial estate is already oversubscribed with motor businesses. The roadside, including pedestrianised areas, are littered with abandoned and disused vehicles."

Another said: "The amount of cars and lorries going fast down the road is a constant nightmare. There is already a car wash; there is no room for any more cars on this road."

However, after new information was submitted, Dorset Council's Planning team concluded the change of use poses no harm to highway safety. An officer said: "Any change in traffic numbers from the fish and chip shop customers and staff in this busy area would be inconsequential."

Additional information submitted by the applicant highlighted that there is an area surrounded by a drainage channel for three cars to be cleaned/valeted, with an undrained area allowing two cars to wait.

"Following submission of the additional information it is considered an objection to the proposal cannot be sustained," a Dorset Council spokesman said.

The council also required cycle parking facilities for car wash staff to be built.