Planning permission to keep an outdoor seating area and pizza oven at a newly-opened Ramsbottom restaurant has been refused by the council after it was built without permission more than four years ago.
Mediterranean-inspired eatery El Carnero on Peel Brow opened its doors in July this year.
The 200-year building was formerly home to popular restaurants, The White Rabbit and Hearth of the Ram, and was put on the market in 2023 for £1.5m.
In April 2021, a detached timber structure for outside seating and a separate timber structure housing a pizza oven was added to the site’s car park - without planning consent.
El Carnero owner Matt Smith, 36, from Bolton, submitted plans to Bury Council to keep the two structures in use.
A Design Access Statement added: “The external alterations will change the appearance the application site, but it will not impact upon its significance.
“The local historic and architectural value of the building will not be harmed as the proposal is located within a large yard and away from the street scene.
“The external features of the retained structures are all constructed from timber and painted black, to blend the structure within its environment.”
The application was refused by Bury Council last month on the grounds of “loss and restriction of parking spaces” and would “likely to lead to vehicles parking and carrying out manoeuvres on an already hazardous part of the highway network.”
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Reasons also included that the timber structures would “be seriously detrimental to the visual amenities and character.”
The refusal letter stated: “The proposed development would introduce a discordant and alien feature into the Ramsbottom Conservation Area where it is the intention of the Local Planning Authority to secure a high standard of development in relation to new buildings and development by requiring the use of sympathetic and compatible building forms and materials and its relationship to the surrounding setting.
“The proposed development would neither preserve or enhance the character of the Conservation area.”
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