Second planning application submitted for Asda Rooftop Food Court

A second planning application has been submitted for an unauthorised food venue previously likened to ‘Grenfell’.

Initial plans for the Rooftop Food Court, which opened without permission on top of Asda’s multi-storey car park in 2025, were refused by Walsall Council’s planning committee in April 2026.

The George Street site operated by Easy Park boasted around a dozen shipping containers each offering street food. It also had a silent outdoor cinema and seating for 350 people.

The authority shut down operations with a temporary stop notice in October 2025 and said the activities posed an ‘immediate risk to public safety’.

Members at the planning committee on April 23 heard how several of the fire exits at the multi-storey car park were blocked with cable ties, a steel plate and a roller shutter.

The chairman of the committee at the time, Mike Bird, said: “One word: Grenfell.”

Members also heard how the foul drainage system for fats and grease was illegally attached to the council’s surface highway system. It was described by a drainage consultant as the ‘worst workmanship they’d seen in 45 years’.

Applicant Easy Park appealed the refusal to the planning inspector but it was later dismissed.

The inspector found that the proposal would result in the creation of ‘an unacceptable fire safety risk and harm to public safety’.

Inspector B Plenty also ruled that the proposal failed to provide suitable toilet and drainage systems, would cause noise and odour affecting local residents, adversely affect the Church Hill Conservation Area and impact highway safety.

They found that the employment and social benefits of the food court would be substantially outweighed by adverse effects.

So far Walsall Council has been subjected to two judicial reviews and two injunctions for its enforcement action at the Rooftop Food Court.

The first judicial review that was dismissed by the court was in relation to the stop notice Walsall Council issued in October 2025.

The second sought to challenge the council’s decision to serve a planning stop notice, which was dismissed in June 2026.

Two injunctions were also applied for by the owners, both to prevent the stop notice from having effect. Both were thrown out in May and June 2026.

Walsall Council has been awarded £21,000 in legal costs so far.

A spokesperson for the Rooftop Food Court said the cases were dismissed as the company chose to cease legal action and let proceedings lapse due to change in leadership following the local elections.

They said it voluntarily chose not to prolong the court process to avoid costs and that it hoped to work constructively with the new Reform administration.

Now, a fresh planning application has been submitted to Walsall Council. A target date for a decision has been set for November 23, 2026.

By Rachel Alexander | Local Democracy Reporting Service