I AM pleased Mrs Nicholson found the council's scrutiny report on takeaways interesting.

The report identified some of the problems when some late-night food premises deliberately stay open later than they should, breaching the conditions of their planning permission.

However, this simply highlights the problem the council faces with the plethora of legislation.

When considering a planning application the council has to consider what are "material considerations" and what are not.

There are numerous aspects which are not considered material, including loss of property value, the motives of the applicant and competition.

Development law is biased in favour of approval, unless the planning committee find good reasons why the application should not be.

The council applies planning law in relation to all applications. The council has a duty to consider all planning applications and seeks to ensure any potential problems a business may cause are minimised through the use of planning conditions.

The council has to assume those who apply for permission will run their businesses in a responsible manner, and will take steps to avoid causing problems for nearby residents.

I hope this allays Mrs Nicholson's concerns and explains why we can't just refuse applications.

Coun Richard S Moore

Chair, Planning & transport (east area) sub-committee,

City of York Council,

Deer Hill Grove,

Clifton Moor, York.

Updated: 12:08 Thursday, May 26, 2005