Expansion plans of an independent restaurant chain have been scuppered by bosses in one town who said children in the area were obese.
Woody's Pizza, which operates two sites in West Yorkshire, wanted to open a third site in the town of Bacup, Lancs.
Owner Colum Hustler has asked for permission to take over the site of a former café and wine bar that closed permanently earlier this year.
The takeaway chain says it uses “minimal salt and sugar” in its recipes and will buy its ingredients from the city's local market.
But council bosses have scuttled the expansion plans, saying they conflict with local plans because children in the area are obese.
Previous plans to replace the ice cream and sweet shop on the same road with a hot food restaurant have also been rejected for the same reasons in 2023.
Local resident Eric Halliwell, 75, said he did not believe children in the area were fat, and disagreed with the decision to reject the plans.
He said: I don't think there is a problem. The kids are fine, I've seen kids and I haven't seen anything obese.
“They're skinny, they have boxing gyms and everything, so why worry about obesity?
“The more business you get, the more people come, you need to get people coming to Bacup, not going out of Bacup.
“If they don't come here they'll go somewhere else, and they'll always find somewhere.
“They have nothing, children, they have nothing anywhere, nowhere to play, nothing to do. It is boring for them.
“Even when they are not in school, they will do harm before they do any good. They need a place to go, of course they do.”
Rossendale Borough Council's own rules state that it will not support any planning permission for takeaways in areas where more than 15% of sixth form pupils or 10% of reception-age pupils are classed as obese.
However, public health chiefs say 20% of 10-11-year-old pupils and 11.6% of reception-age children are obese in the Greenslough ward area.
Sarah O'Neill, co-owner of the family-owned Nellie's Cafe, located a few doors down the road, said her cafe tries to focus on serving healthy food.
The 37-year-old, who also works as a stroke ward nurse at nearby Fairfield General Hospital, said: “I think people should be given a chance to actually open up to healthy food, and I think there is scope for someone to do healthy takeaways.
The family café also intends to apply for a takeaway licence, and said it would fight any rejection.
Sarah added: “We could actually apply and we might get a 'no', but you never know.
“Because we're going to be serving healthy food, I'd be kind of shocked that people want healthy food, home-made food.
“You don't put it on the grill with a lot of oil, it's a healthy, home-made food.
“I think I'll probably apply again and fight against him.”
Sarah, who has two children, said that she did not notice that the children in the town were noticeably larger compared to other areas.
She added that the pub previously on the site of the rejected pizzeria sold burgers and chips.
She said: “I'm really shocked. A lot of food places and cafes have closed, and I don't know why.”
“Maybe there's not enough money, but there's a lot of fast food.”
In a scathing objection to the pizzeria plans, Claire Bradley, the council's chief planning officer, said the takeaway restaurant “failed to do justice to the heritage building”.
She added that another takeaway in addition to the 26 existing restaurants in the city “would not add anything to the diversity of the offer in Bacup”.
Two public comments also objected to the plans, with residents objecting to the planned operating times of 4 p.m.-10 p.m.
A comment from former mayor Barbara Ashworth said the opening hours would “do nothing to enhance the desire for a vibrant downtown throughout the day and evening.”
Peter Brown, who also objected, said the opening times would “drive away law-abiding older residents” due to “anti-social behavior of young people hanging around and scaring everyone”.
Board rules stipulate that fast food outlets near high schools must restrict their operating hours to lunchtimes and school closing times.
However, Growth Lancashire Ltd's comment raised no objections, saying the plans would not cause a “significant level of harm or loss of significance”.
In its plans, Woody's said: “We're unlike any other restaurant.
“We don't extract dirty oil, we don't do huge extraction operations, it's late at night and delivery drivers stop on our dock.
“We don't use a lot of salt and sugar and we don't buy cheap frozen products for frying.
“We buy directly from our market in Todmorden and Hebden Bridge…we always have done that and we always will.
“We intend to buy directly from Bacup Market as well as per our model of supporting local markets and businesses.
“We are different, we are a source of pride for our community and they love us. Please allow us to come to Bacup and continue our journey.”
In a notice published on 16 December, Rossendale Council refused planning permission, on the grounds that there were too many obese children in the town and that it would “unacceptably reduce the living conditions of residents living in the vicinity “The area.” location”.
Rossendale Borough Council has been contacted for comment.
