A chicken shop could open in Newport's historic town centre, despite community and environmental health objections from the community council.

Mr T Pirapagaran's proposal for a takeaway on the ground floor of an empty retail unit at 79 St James Street has so far been met with resistance from both Newport and Carisbrooke Community Council and a next door neighbour at 80 St James Street.

The building was formerly home to the Newport branch of the Island Photo Centre, which closed in 2022.

The takeway plan was readvertised on the Isle of Wight Council's online planning portal on October 2 and is the latest in a series of attempts to install a chicken shop at the site over the last year.

County Hall rejected a 2023 proposal due to inadequate information on the takeaway's possible impacts on neighbours and disquiet over the form of extraction system it would use.

An August 2 planning document states the proposal would create a hot food takeaway unit, offering additional choice in the food sector of this area.

"This proposal will allow a currently vacant retail unit to be utilized rather than being left empty to the detriment of the general appearance of Newport's retail environment", it reads.

Newport and Carisbrooke Community Council's criticisms have included a possible loss of retail space on a street "already rife" with fast food takeaways, concerns around environmental and community health, negative traffic impacts, additional noise levels and unease around the application's lack of detail relating to heritage.

Its submission said: "There appears to be little visible detail included in the plan in relation to extraction units or bin storage, which for a 'food takeaway' is concerning.

"A link between proliferation of fast-food outlets and deprivation is already identified, as detailed in the 2021 Isle of Wight Healthy Places report."

The document also flagged that the proposal is at odds with Section 8 of the government's National Planning Policy Framework which includes promoting "healthy and safe" communities and  supporting "healthy lifestyles".

The public consultation on the application finishes on Friday November 1, with an agreed extended decision date set for Tuesday November 5.