Taxi office plan in Blackburn

The boss of a new Blackburn private hire firm is seeking to create an online taxi base in a set of commercial units in Shear Brow.

Shan Munawar, of Blue Trip Private Hire Ltd, has applied for planning permission for the conversion of 5a and 5b Hole I’th Wall Units in East Park Road.

He wants a change of use from a general office to a Taxi Base Office with no public access.

A supporting statement submitted to Blackburn with Darwen Council says: “The application site forms part of a large office/retail/ storage building that is divided into various small and medium-sized offices.

“The premises are sited at the upper end of East Park Road, close to Shear Brow.

“The application involves changing the lawful use of the unit, which is currently controlled by the applicant as a general office/storage, from an office use to a taxi booking office comprising an area of 22 square metres.

“There are no external alterations proposed in support of the change of use, except an internal dividing partition will be removed to make one large space to provide a desk and filing cabinet space.

“The submitted plan shows the existing office unit in conjunction with the Print Hub Design on the corner facing East Park Road.

“The applicant is seeking consent for a private hire operator’s licence and has been advised by the licensing department at Blackburn with Darwen Council that planning consent is required.

“Every private hire operator must have an office within the licensing authority’s control district, in this case, Blackburn with Darwen Council.

“The aspirant operator must be able to demonstrate to the council licensing department that the appropriate planning permission is in place to undertake private hire operations, and hence the application for the proposed change of use.

“The operator’s core business is operating taxi contract service for schools and college runs, and will not operate as a conventional taxi base for the general public, and hence there shall be no public access or waiting area.

“The office will be rarely used on a day-to-day basis, when staffed it will only ever be between normal office hours Monday to Friday for general administration work.”