Pub smoking shelter gets red card

2:58pm Wednesday 14th May 2008

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A LANDLORD has been ordered to pull down a smoking shelter outside his pub in Ainsworth.

The wooden structure was erected in the car park outside the Duke William pub last year to protect smokers from the elements.

But concerns were raised about the shelter because planning permission had not been sought, and the pub is a listed building in Ainsworth's conservation area.

Complaints were made to Bury Council in September last year and planning officers visited the pub in Well Street.

Landlord Tim Herod submitted a retrospective planning application in November, but this was withdrawn because it was judged to be incomplete.

He has now been served with an enforcement notice, which came into effect on Saturday and means he has 60 days to dismantle and remove the shelter.

Stephen Howarth, the council's senior planning enforcement officer, said: "We have had a few complaints from different sources and that is why we got involved. The landlord does not have planning permission for the shelter and we don't think it is made of appropriate material."

But Mr Herod says he needs the shelter to cater for his smoking customers and planned to make it fit into the area.

He intends to submit a new planning application in the hope that he can keep the shelter.

Mr Herod said: "Unfortunately we have been forced to have the smoking ban and the shelter is there for my customers. We wanted to make it look as nice as possible, and had plans to attach hanging baskets and paint it the same colour as the building.

"We are not planning to take it down at the moment, but if it comes to it, then we will have to remove it."