Smethwick backyard barbershop built illegally loses battle to remain open

An old garage in Grange Road, Smethwick, was illegally converted into a barber shop known as Hadi’s Barberz last year and Sandwell Council went on to reject a planning application for the work despite it having already been carried out.

Government planning inspectors have now supported the decision siding with planners at Sandwell Council over the “unsuitability” of the barbershop for the area.

The inspector dismissed the appeal by the applicant, listed as Mr Hassan, meaning the barbershop, which now does not have planning permission, could now be closed down and the building forced to return to its previous state.

Another barbershop called Hadi’s Barberz opened less than 200 yards away in Waterloo Road in July.

Earlier this year, the local authority’s planners said the number of empty units nearby meant the proposals for the barber shop would fail its tests designed to protect the “vitality and viability” of the borough’s main – and defined – shopping areas.

The council’s planners said the planned barber shop would be 300 metres from the ‘centre’ of Cape Hill – where a survey carried out by the council last year showed there were eight empty units. The council said shops should be built in the main Cape Hill shopping centre and not on residential streets.

The council also said the proposed barber’s on the Edgbaston Road and Grange roundabout in Smethwick was “of poor design” and “incompatible with its surroundings.”

“Although the proposed use is small scale, its location within a purely residential street with residents only parking, and restricted parking outside appears unsatisfactory, particularly given the close proximity of a centre with vacant units,” the council said in a report outlining the objection.

The inspector agreed with the council saying Mr Hassan had not shown whether there were “more suitable” sites available and whether there was any need or demand for a new barbershop.

“While [Mr Hassan] asserts that small businesses rarely survive in the commercial and retail areas, little substantive evidence to support this has been submitted,” the inspector said. “Although the appellant asserts that the council has previously granted permission for very similar developments, with the same circumstances and conditions, no further details have been provided.”

The inspector also raised concerns about the potential for the barbershop to add to parking and congestion problems.

“Limited evidence has been submitted which demonstrates that there is sufficient capacity to safely accommodate the additional demand for on-street parking that results from the development,” the inspector said. “In the absence of such evidence and having regard to the existing demand for on-street parking, the development is likely to have increased on-street parking in the vicinity.

“The appellant asserts that the commercial nature of the development is not dependant on customers driving or using public transport, as it caters for local people who would walk. While this is noted, there is nothing before me that could reasonably restrict how customers travel to the appeal site. Therefore, the development is likely to have increased the demand for on-street parking in the area.”

Mr Hassan was permitted in November last year to raise the height of the garage in Edgbaston Road and add two new roller shutters but the council turned down his ‘retrospective’ move asking permission to convert the garage into a barber shop.

The roller shutters added to the garage did not match what the council approved last year – with a new glass entrance and door built without permission from the council.

An application for a rear and side extension to 47 Smethwick Road was approved in 2019.