McMullen pub forced to remove 'unneighbourly' outdoor lighting
Peter Furness Smith said two lamp posts were installed outside the Britannia in Marlow, Buckinghamshire following a refurbishment at the pub a year ago, after customers said they could not see properly in the pub’s car park.
However, Wycombe District Council has now ordered the brewery to remove the lighting, claiming it is “an unneighbourly form of development” that is having an “unacceptable overbearing and visually intrusive impact” on nearby houses.
McMullen was forced to make a retrospective planning application earlier this year following a complaint from a neighbour.
'Really disappointing'
Furness Smith told the Publican’s Morning Advertiser: “They are ordinary lamp posts that face in towards the pub. It doesn’t seem that unreasonable to be honest.
“This is a really disappointing decision for both us and our customers who will struggle to understand why their local authority should not wish to make it easier to park and access the pub at night. Having made a massive investment and turned a grotty eyesore into the successful pub it has become, where over 1500 local people choose to dine every week, it seems odd that we should be prevented from providing a safe car park.
“At a time when politicians are legislating to keep pubs open at all costs it strikes me as perverse that the long arm of bureaucracy should penalise us when we take the risk and save the Britannia from becoming a supermarket.”
He added that he will appeal the decision and look into accommodating the neighbour’s concerns.
A spokesman from Wycombe District Council said: “The reason given for refusing the planning application was that, in the opinion of the Local Planning Authority, the 2 x 5 metre high LED flood lights by means of their design, siting, height, illumination and proximity to the rear garden area and dwelling at 1 Bobmore Lane and nearby residential properties would have an unacceptable overbearing and visually intrusive impact, resulting in an unneighbourly form of development to the detriment of the living environment currently enjoyed by the neighbour at 1 Bobmore Lane and other properties nearby.”
