Exmouth venue bags pub garden extension

An Exmouth pub has been given permission to extend its beer garden on its second attempt to make the change.

The First and Last, on the town’s Church Street, submitted amended plans to add an extra area onto its pub garden, which would take a central portion of a neighbouring residential garden owned by the pub landlord.
The proposal, which essentially puts a pub beer garden in the centre of two separated pieces of residential garden, had been tweaked from a previous planning application that had been refused by East Devon District Council.
Members of the council’s planning committee were told by planning officers that the new application had overcome some of the issues that led to the first application being refused, such as concerns around safety and security, and a lack of separation between the residential garden and pub garden.
But the committee heard that while the issue of noise had not been a factor in the first application, the council’s environmental health team had received noise complaints about the pub in the intervening period.
That had prompted the council to suggest that the new beer garden area might only be allowed to be used until 9:30pm, even though the existing beer garden was licensed until later.
This sparked concerns from some of the committee that the pub landlord, Mark Williams, might be able to appeal that restriction due to being under two different time-related restrictions on the same property.
Mr Williams, who attended the planning meeting, said he had run the pub for the past 21 years, and that the proposed extension would only accommodate another five tables, meaning he didn’t think noise levels would change significantly.
“I think some of the conditions being proposed are overly onerous and unnecessary and don’t reflect a consistent or fair approach with other businesses in the area,” he said.
“I’m not aware of others with similar restrictions.”
Mr Williams added that national guidelines suggested issues of noise could be suitably addressed through licensing regulations and weren’t necessary through planning in this instance. He also said there would be noise mitigation, including acoustic panelling on the wall separating the pub and residential garden, as well as no music played outdoors.
The pub landlord further claimed the noise complaints had only materialised shortly after his latest application was validated, and that they were “exaggerated and inaccurate”. He also suggested the complaints had come from neighbours who live opposite the front of the pub, not the rear where its garden is situated.
Furthermore, he claimed that he had in 2007 successfully applied for a licence for a much larger beer garden that would encompass the area he was seeking approval for now.
After a brief adjournment, planning officers confirmed this and so opted to remove the 9:30pm restriction from their planning conditions.
The planning committee also raised concerns that part of the residential garden would now only be accessible through the pub garden, and members suggested it may be necessary to include a condition that secures right of way for the residents.
While Mr Williams owns the pub and the neighbouring property now, the committee suggested that if the business or the residential property ended up in different hands, issues of access could emerge.
However, Mr Williams said he also owns other nearby properties, and that the furthest portion of garden may end up being transferred to a different property anyway.
The committee did hear a written objection from a resident named as Mrs Dixon, who felt the environmental health team had “failed to assess the increase in noise” of the proposed beer garden extension.
“A visit to my property during a busy time would have shown the existing level of noise and anti-social behaviour,” the letter said.
Mrs Dixon said she “really hoped for refusal” and welcomed the potential for the 9:30pm usage constraint.
The committee’s vice chair, Councillor Eileen Wragg (Liberal Democrat, Exmouth Town) said when the pub’s first application had come in earlier this year, she had visited a resident who lived nearby who had suggested the noise from the pub garden was loud.
“It might not break the sound barriers, but the level of talking is very loud and there can be rude language,” Cllr Wragg said.
“The resident said at the time she just couldn’t enjoy the peaceful surrounding of their garden in the evening.”
However, the committee opted to vote in favour of the proposal, removing the 9:30 restriction.