®Planning appeal decision
37A Oxford Street, Southampton, SO14 3DP
Planning appeal 3358051 at 37A Oxford Street, Southampton, SO14 3DP (Southampton City Council) was allowed on 7 July 2025 by Inspector Cahalane R, by written representations. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: Whether condition No 2 is reasonable and necessary.
Change of use from restaurant (Use Class E) to drinking establishment/restaurant (Sui Generis) with extended opening hours to 1am Monday to Sunday for a temporary period of two years
- Authority
- Southampton City Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- leisure-sport · Other minor developments
- Inspector
- Cahalane R
- Postcode
- SO14 3DP
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether condition No 2 is reasonable and necessary
- Whether the proposed extended opening hours would safeguard the living conditions of neighbouring residents, with particular regard to noise and disturbance, anti-social behaviour and litter
- Whether the proposal would lead to wider direct impacts on late night community safety within the city centre
What decided it
The specific locational characteristics of the appeal site, surrounded by other established night time uses and the A33, meant that an additional one-hour night time operating period could be undertaken without significant increase to ambient noise levels or unacceptably adverse impacts on neighbouring residents.
The limited conflict with Policy AP8 arising from extended operating hours beyond midnight was outweighed by the contribution to a vibrant city centre night time economy and the site-specific locational circumstances that would avoid unacceptably adverse impacts on living conditions, with the temporary two-year personal permission providing a future safeguard.
What the Inspector cited
- Development plan policies
- Policy AP8 of the City Centre Action Plan (2015)Saved Policy SDP 1 of the City of Southampton Local Plan Review (2015)Saved Policy SDP 16 of the City of Southampton Local Plan Review (2015)Saved Policy REI 7 of the City of Southampton Local Plan Review (2015)Policy CS 13 of the Local Development Framework Core Strategy Development Plan Document (2015)Policy SDP 10 of the Local Plan Review (2015)Policy CLT 15 of the Local Plan Review (2015)
- National Planning Policy Framework
- Paragraph 57
How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.
See how each was appliedThe decision letter
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The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.