Wolverhampton restaurant’s unauthorised marquee cannot stay rules inspector
An appeal by a restaurant to keep an unauthorised marquee has been rejected by a government inspector.
Amritsar Sweets and Catering installed the marque behind its Dudley Road, Blakenhall shop without permission in early 2022.
A planning application asking for ‘retrospective’ permission to allow the marquee to remain was rejected by Wolverhampton Council in January.
The owners then appealed to the government’s planning inspectors in a bid to get the decision overturned but were turned down again.
Wolverhampton Council’s planners said the marquee was “out of scale” and made from “poor-quality materials” that “detracted from the appearance and character of the street".
The local authority added that congestion was already a problem in Dudley Road and parking was at a premium.
The marquee could accommodate around 70 people and up to two private functions would be held a week, the restaurant said.
The number of guests would be limited to 30 and no alcohol would be served or music played.
The marquee would add to existing problems if it was allowed to stay, the council added.
Amritsar Sweets and Catering opened in 2020 and the marquee was erected in early 2022 according to the application.
“The increased arrivals and departures with the floor area increase taking place within the constructed marquee behind the application building, which cannot physically contain noise breakout due to the manner of construction, causes a significant impact on neighbour amenities, in terms of noise and general disturbance emanating from the marquee which accommodates an additional 60-70 customers and two employees,” the council said in its rejection notice.
“The development by virtue of the increased floor area generates vehicular demands which cannot be accommodated within the immediate vicinity of the site, as the onstreet parking is heavily subscribed throughout the day during the proposed hours of operation (9am-9pm).
“The nearby car parking layby at the front of the premises is also very heavily subscribed serving the wide array of existing businesses, and no additional parking provisions have been proposed in relation to the amount of vehicle-related traffic.
“This lack of parking and service provision causes a detrimental impact on highway safety.”
Backing the decision to reject, the planning inspector said: “The surrounding road network has a relatively high volume of on-street parking and likely would remain at a high level for the duration of the proposed opening hours.
“Therefore, further stress upon parking provision in the surrounding area because of the appeal scheme, is in my judgement, likely to result in unsafe parking.
“It has not been adequately demonstrated, to my mind, that the design and lightweight materials used in the development are sufficient to adequately contain noise from the use of the appeal scheme.”
