Cheshire East Council looks to get tougher on hand car washes

Officers have been set the task of producing a planning document that will set out strict guidelines on issues such as air quality, noise and light pollution, and the drainage of waste water.

CEC hopes it will provide extra guidance for potential car wash operators in an effort to help ease residents’ minds.

“There have been a number of these sites across Cheshire East and in various places they have impinged upon the planning process,” said Adrian Fisher, head of planning strategy at CEC.

“In some cases, the establishment of these operations without the necessary planning consent, and certainly in a few cases, they are now subject to enforcement action.

“We have experienced this very much in the way that other parts of the country have done.”

In 2018, CEC received eight planning applications for car washes – three were withdrawn, two were refused, two were approved and one is yet to be decided.

Meanwhile, the local authority has also served an enforcement notice on a car wash in Union Street, Sandbach, which is operating despite having both its planning application and subsequent appeal rejected.

Neighbouring resident John Wheeler told Wednesday’s strategic planning board meeting he had ‘hit a brick wall’ in his own attempts to oppose the car wash.

He said: “We’ve opposed this because we have got people in our street who can hardly go out, they are almost housebound, and this quiet street has been turned into a public highway.”

The car wash has since appealed against the enforcement notice, meaning it can continue operating until the outcome of the appeal has been reached.

CEC’s move follows a report by a Parliament select committee, which highlighted issues surrounding some hand car washes.

These include pollution and flouting of planning rules – as well as modern slavery, workforce exploitation and non-payment of tax.

Cllr Steve Hogben, Labour, said: “In Crewe we’ve got our fair share of car washes.

“That’s only one of the business types that probably does use slave labour or unregulated labour, and can be used as a money laundering operation – basically criminal activity.

“I’m sure there are some that are very good but it does stand out that so few of them have planning permission, and not least a business of proper control of where the waste water goes.”

Conservative Cllr Gill Merry, chairman of the strategic planning board, agreed that the document is ‘very much needed’.

She said: “It comes back to regulation, and at the moment all we have is the normal planning process.

“With this there will at least be some regulation behind it and hopefully in time that will be extended into other areas because we are very much aware of modern slavery, people working under the minimum wage and living in conditions that are not acceptable.

“And these car washes have inflicted unknown harm on residents. We don’t know what has gone into the drains, we don’t know what has gone into the air and a number of other issues.”

A draft version of the document will come back to the strategic planning board for approval at a future meeting.