A Hove cafe may have to rip the roof off its garden shelter after the council refused to give it retrospective planning permission.
Mon Cafe in Church Road, previously the Seafield Pub, applied for permission for the plastic canopy and extraction duct in its back garden.
It also needed permission to raise the height of the timber fencing, first installed by the pub, on which the canopy now sits.
But this month, planning officers turned its application down.
Another application, submitted in May, to officially change its use from a pub to a cafe, is still under consideration.
This may well end up also being refused because of the council’s policy that to change the use of a pub, the applicant must demonstrate it has marketed it for two years for let or for sale at a reasonable market rate with no interest.
One neighbour objected to the shelter plans, saying: “Noise from restaurant customers and kitchen equipment is a nuisance, and appearance of the back-land development unsightly in the conservation area setting.
“The poorly designed expansion to rear of premises and increase in customer numbers brings restaurant activities closer to residents’ homes, causing disturbance in such a way that amenity is seriously affected.”
The application said: “The new canopy has been erected to provide the existing rear garden with all weather protection seeking to maximize the use of the external seating area.
“Due to its location to the rear of the building and being hidden from view from Seafield Road by an existing boundary wall, capped with a timber fence (increased slightly in height) and established tree the impact of the new structure on the conservation area is minimal.
“Church Road is prolific in café and restaurant establishments all of which require mechanical extraction.
“Whilst the front elevations of these premises retain many of the original period architectural features … their rear facades are littered with more modern rear extensions, fire escapes and extract ventilation ductwork.”
The report, written by planning officer Helen Hobbs, said: “The significant enclosure of the garden alters the relationship of the building to its plot, removing private open space and thereby altering the urban grain and historic development pattern of the terrace, and that of the surrounding area.
“The prominence and significant height of the fencing and structure, plus the materials and design used, mean that the proposal relates poorly to the main building, and they are uncharacteristic of the surrounding conservation area.
“It is recognised that the rear gardens within the terrace are mainly used in conjunction with commercial uses and therefore have lost their domestic appearance, however they still appear as open garden areas.
“There are concerns that the timber structure with plastic roof in particular is of insufficient design quality and is incongruous, and does not satisfactorily integrate with the building or terrace.”
It looks surprisingly nice from the internal view compared with the external view. I personally don’t think refusal is fair but I’m just some random person.
Noticing also that ivy is growing up the fence, give it a year and it’ll be completely green. A green wall is beneficial for insects and air quality and potentially some sound mitigation.
Being caught out retrospectively has happened a few times now with various businesses over the several months. What is the reason for all these business not waiting for decisions before implementing things that ultimately then have to be taken down?
Because they think they can get away with it.
It’s not that they don’t wait for applications to be considered but they only apply after they have built.
They think they can present the planners with a fait accompli because it’s already built so the planners have to approve it.
But planning doesn’t work like that.
As it clearly been demonstrated time againn
Unbelievable, Mon Cafe is a vast improvement to that vile rough pub that was there. I think questions to be asked is why do planning applications take so long. What business can afford to stay empty for so long. Maybe we should put more pressure on the council to put right all the jobs they ignore.