Cold Ash pub loses marquee appeal fight

If the marquee at the Spotted Dog is not taken down by March 25, legal proceeding could be started, West Berkshire Council has said.
The battle has been going on for almost three years.
Last April, the Gladstone Lane pub, where the marquee had been erected for almost two years, was refused retrospective permission.
In dismissing the appeal, planning inspector Simon Hand said that the main issue was the impact that the marquee had on the character and appearance of the area.
He said: “The Spotted Dog is an attractive brick-built pub with a variety of tiled roofs and different rooflines and extensions creating a pleasing overall effect.
“The marquee, by way of contrast, is a large, monolithic rectangle attached to the side of the pub, with no apparent relationship to any of its parts. It is clearly out of scale and the solid whiteness of the colour stands out harmfully against the muted brick tones of the pub itself.
“The marquee also has the potential to become weathered and shabby over time, as apparently had happened to an older marquee before it was replaced by the current one.”
The decision is one that should please Cold Ash Parish Council as well as several local residents, who raised objections at every stage of the planning process.
Furious landlord Kevin Dobson said that being forced to remove the marquee would mean five members of staff would have to go. The pub allowed community groups to use the marquee for free, but Mr Dobson said that he would not need so many staff now those groups wouldn’t be going into the pub for regular meetings.
He added that the pub would also stop allowing St Mark's School to use the pub car park as a park and stride facility and that several local groups, including the football and cricket teams, the parent teacher association and the Scouts had lost a free meeting venue.
“It’s not my place to provide the council with car parking for the school. We were doing it as a good will gesture.
“It’s a sad loss for the community; it’s not just about the business.
“The people who complain have not got a clue just how much we do for the community.”
He added that he was disappointed that the parish council would not support the pub, particularly as so many were going out of business.
Confirming that he would remove the marquee by the deadline, he said: “I’m infuriated but we obviously have to comply with the planning laws.”
The enforcement notice on the marquee had been suspended while the planning process was being completed, but the district council has now served a new one.
Council spokeswoman Peta Stoddart-Crompton said: “They have fours weeks from the decision date which means it will need to be taken down by March 25.”
She added that if the pub did not remove the marquee by this time, the council would consider legal proceedings.