A controversial plan for a new hot food takeaway in Chesterfield has been passed by the borough council despite concerns about parking, odours, fumes and waste storage.

Himin Khalid Mohammed submitted his change of use proposal for 514 Sheffield Road Chesterfield, Whittington Moor which will repurpose the property from an office that was last used by an insurance broker in August 2025. The takeaway would be open from 11 am until 11pm daily, offering shawarma, grilled burgers, chicken shish, pizza and fries.

An objection from a neighbouring retailer stated that their business relied heavily on a loading bay positioned at the front of the proposed takeaway premises for constant deliveries.

Their letter commented: “Currently, we are already struggling with a high number of short stay vehicles and food delivery drivers using the loading bay to park in. This creates congestion of the adjoining road and unsafe conditions both for the artic drivers who cannot park safely and for our staff and customers.

Shawarma, fries, burgers and pizzas are among the food offers planned for the proposed takeaway on Sheffield Road, Whittington Moor (generic photo: Adobe Stock)

placeholder image — Shawarma, fries, burgers and pizzas are among the food offers planned for the proposed takeaway on Sheffield Road, Whittington Moor (generic photo: Adobe Stock)

“There is no customer parking provision associated with the proposed takeaway. Given the lack of on site parking it is highly likely that customers and delivery drivers will either use the loading bay on the front of our premises or our very small customer parking area. This will cause interference with our business and loss of customers due to the limited car parking spaces being occupied by takeaway customers.

“We also have serious concerns regarding the impact of cooking odours and grease laden fumes. We store and display over 160 rolls of carpets measuring 30m x 4m. These carpets are open and not sealed. They are also highly absorbent and exposure to persistent cooking smells poses a serious risk of odour contamination. Once absorbed these odours are extremely difficult to remove and could render the products unsaleable.”

Mr Mohammed wrote in a letter to the council’s environmental health officer: “We will be installing a commercial kitchen canopy extraction system with seven extraction points. The system will include ducting and will discharge externally at an appropriate height in line with relevant standards.

“The extraction system will include suitable filtration, such as grease filters and carbon filters, to minimise odour impact. The system will be regularly cleaned and maintained to ensure effective operation.”

However, the environmental health officer stated: “There does need to be a conditional requirement that if the type of food changes the extraction system and odour control system also need to be ‘fit for purpose’. The odour control system that is described is not suitable for all food types.”

The applicant intends to store waste at the rear of the premises. A neighbour wrote to the council saying that that area is the car park of an adjacent garage, adding: “I would expect a full plan on what they are going to do with waste food and oil as I am sure the tyre company will not want it left in their car park.”

In passing the change of use planning application, the council imposed several conditions. These included that equipment to control the emission of fumes and smells be installed in accordance with a scheme that has been submitted and approved by the Local Planning Authority and that storage of bins and location on bin collection day shall also be submitted to and approved by the authority before the change of use is implemented.