by Trevor Bevins, Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Canopies covering outside seating areas at a Weymouth seafront bar may have to be removed after being refused consent.
Councillors voted unanimously to reject permission for the changes which took place several years ago.
The move may now prompt council action against other businesses in the town and elsewhere – with the neighbouring Nook also listed for a decision to be made on its outside structures.
The Kika Beach Club is said to have put up the structures, described as being out of keeping with the area and not preserving the Grade 2 listed Georgian architecture, without any consent.
Planning officers said the structures had obscured the original building fronts and were causing what a planning officer described as “visual clutter”, disrupting and obscuring the views of the heritage buildings.
Councillors on an area planning committee on Thursday heard that there were some benefits in the seating and shelter the canopies provided, but this did not outweigh the ‘harm’ to the buildings which sit within the town’s Conservation Area.
Cllr David Northam, Upwey and Broadwey, said that both sites had been granted a sitting out licence several years ago. He questioned why Dorset Council had not queried the canopy structures until now – given that they had been in place for four or five years without permission.
He asked, but did not get a reply, whether Dorset Council would now be taking action at other establishments.
Cllr Simon Christopher said the canopies and other parts of the structures amounted to unauthorised development and did not add to the character and charm of historic Weymouth.
Cllr Northam said the canopies use had been well established with Weymouth Town Council offering no objection, although the town’s Civic Society had objected.
“I would say the establishment of these has been a popular feature, particularly from the businesses, but also from the people using the businesses,” he said, “If you have ever sat out on a raining day or or a windy day you would appreciate the coverage,” he said.
Radipole Cllr Matt Bell said he had personally experienced using the area, which was well supported and helped the local economy but said he “felt torn” in deciding between the planning officer advice to refuse, and the benefits to the town: “This is one of these when it is genuinely hard as a local councillor and a local resident to know which way to go,” he said.
Cllr Craig Monks (Beaminster) said protecting local business in current tough times needed to be balanced against what he described as “overstepping the line” in protecting historic buildings.
Cllr Neil Eysenck (Eggardon) said he thought it would have been possible to have removal seating and shelters – rather than build structures without consent. He proposed refusing listed building consent for the structures.
Portland councillor Paul Kimber said at the end of the day the council ought to come down on the side of preserving the seafront, part of the town’s attractiveness.
Fellow Portland councillor Pete Roper said the views of the buildings before the structures went up compared to today was “striking” and while he accepted the town council’s views on economic grounds people could still sit outside without the canopies and associated structures.
“We do need to save the Georgian architecture in the Weymouth area,” he said.
