Appeal for support for popular roadside cafe

Enterprising Nicky Jackson is appealing to customers to support her planning application to keep her popular 40ft long food cabin near a windswept motorway junction.

Nicky, 51, who was made redundant at the beginning of the first lockdown, decided to buy a van and convert it to sell food at Windy Hill close to junction 22 on the M62 above Denshaw.

But last year, after her original van broke down and to cope with demands from a growing band of  loyal customers, Nicky converted a shipping container into a cosy, 12 seater haven for travellers.

Now she has applied to Rochdale Council for change of use and siting of the the shipping container as a cafe on Ripponden Road and is appealing to customers to support her application.

Nicky, a former area manager with the Salvation Army, travels from her Tameside home six days a week to provide travellers with a wide choice of nourishing meals including all-day breakfasts from her roadside refuge.

She said: “I use the exact same equipment in the cafe as I used on the van which was credited with a 5 star food safety inspection.

“Since I have had the container with CCTV there has not been any fly tipping or trouble of any kind. The feedback from my customers is always positive and everyone loves the warm welcoming community hub feel of the place.”

One supporter Oliver Hague, from Manchester, said: "Nicky has single-handedly transformed a desolate fly tipping wasteland into a haven for walkers and runners. Her cafe is a shining light that deserves everyone's full support. "

Stuart Lansdowne from Northumberland said: “This application is fully supported in every way. Nicky's Food Bar is extremely well placed to assist with emergencies and to provide a service to walkers, runners and tourists visiting the area.

“The service also provides support thr twice yearly Montane Spine Races and benefits the local economy in the area.”

And mountain leader Ian Evans from Somerset declared: “Nicky's Food Bar can be a life-saver - literally - in bad weather.

“Our country's long-distance trails need resupply points and there's nothing even remotely near Nicky's on that part of the Pennine Way."

Planning consultant, Owen Hoare, who is handling Nicky’s application, said: “The café provides shelter to ramblers, runners, cyclists and drivers who are passing by. The application site is within the Green Belt.

“The application has garnered unprecedented levels of local support, and offers a much-loved local service which can only be provided in this location.

“Local Planning Policy is clear: the Council will promote and support development that can enhance the visitor attraction of the area and improve recreational routes, with an overarching support of proposals that improve the visitor economy, and that the Council will support the recreational and tourist value of the Pennine Way.

“As such, it is considered that the Council should support this application.”

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