A recent planning application has proposed a food truck on a property in the heart of Flatts.

The application, submitted this month by Michael Lightbourne, proposed a food truck and paved seating area with a tent at the Brightside Apartment and Spa.

The project would also include reconfiguring parking in the area to create six additional car parking spaces, the construction of new toilet facilities and renovations to an existing covered porch to create a food preparation room.

Drawings included with the application labelled the food truck as “relocated”, which suggested it could be the Lazy Corner unit, which is situated across the street.

Mr Lightbourne received retroactive approval last year to establish a food truck on the opposite side of the road, which overlooks Flatts Inlet, on appeal after being rejected by the Development Applications Board.

According to planning documents, the food truck was placed on the Flatts property owned by Mr Lightbourne in January 2022 before he sought planning permission.

The application garnered a series of objections and was turned down by the DAB last March on the grounds that the project “was not considered sensitive to the physical and environmental characteristics of the area”.

Mr Lightbourne appealed the decision and, while a planning inspector recommended the appeal be dismissed based on environmental concerns, the appeal was allowed by Walter Roban, the Minister of Home Affairs.

The approval, however, included several conditions including that a building permit needed to identify designated parking for the new operation on the Brightside property as well as details of a shuttle service intended to alleviate transportation concerns associated with the project.

Mr Roban notified Mr Lightbourne’s representatives of his decision to grant planning permission for the scheme on November 6 last year, just four days before responsibility for planning decisions was shifted from Mr Roban’s Ministry of Home Affairs to the Ministry of the Cabinet Office.