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The owner of a Warwick restaurant is appealing a planning decision against his pergola - and he believes he has 'enormous support' from the public.

Last year John Martin the owner of the Dough and Brew, had put up a pergola to allow diners to sit outside after having the capacity of his restaurant halved by Covid-19 restrictions.

At a Warwick District Council planning committee meeting in October 2020 the application was refused because the structure was deemed 'unsuitable for the conservation area'.

An artist’s impression of what the pergola outside Dough and Brew is hoped to look like in the future. Image supplied

Despite the plans being rejected John and the Dough and Brew team also had a lot of support from residents and customers for the pergola and one customer even set up a petition to keep the structure.

Now John has appealed the council's rejection.

He said: “Due to the enormous amount of support for the pergola we decided to appeal the decision made by the planning committee.

"Whilst we understand some of the points raised by the planning team, we felt the decision didn’t reflect the proposed finished structure nor did it fully take into account the 150 comments supporting the structure versus the 12 objections, of which some we felt were factually inaccurate.

"Objections to a perceived land grab, when the structure is on private land, or complaints about the width of the pavement, had no relevance to the proposal.

“Our aim has always been to enhance the area aesthetically and provide our customers with a relaxed outdoor dining experience and whilst we appreciate that not everyone is keen on the idea, 150 comments of support and a customer-led petition with over 1,500 signatures suggests that there is significant support in favour.”

If anyone would like to make comments, or modify/withdraw previous comments this can be done online at https://acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk or by emailing [email protected]

All comments must use the appeal reference: APP/T3725/W/21/3272906

Warwick restaurant owner appeals against the council's decision to remove his pergola for outside diners - and he believes he has 'enormous support' from the public