Historic marquees at village pub allowed to stay after council vote

The decision comes as a relief to Landlord Stuart Johnson after his application to renew the marquees was initially rejected in January.

Council documents record that the marquees at the Golden Pheasant at Etton were installed in 2001, however, Stuart says he has a regular who remembers getting married under the marquees in 1995 and recalls them being in place two or three years before that, which would make them in fact closer to 30 years old.

The marquees have been replaced and updated throughout the years but the footage has always remained the same and Stuart was surprised to see his application to retain them, which has to be renewed every three years, rejected over concerns about the harm to the setting of the mid-19th century Listed Building and risks to highway safety.

The decision caused controversy and Stuart was advised to submit a new application, that was then referred to the city’s Planning and Environmental Protection Committee.

Ahead of the meeting, council officers actually performed a U-turn on the original decision, despite continued objections from their conservation officer, and recommended the committee grant the application.

After a vote, the application was approved by six votes to three.

Stuart said: “We are pretty optimistic, we have been told by email about the committee’s decision but we are yet to receive our official letter detailing all of the conditions.

“When we do, we will be in a position to be able to plan our events going forward.”

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