Extended outdoor seating at The Old Fish Market, The Pantiles, Royal Tunbridge Wells

What was proposed

Retrospective permission was sought for a 1.5-metre seating extension and an alternative canopy over the approved and additional seating areas.

“Current application 1.08 The current retrospective application falls into 2 parts. Permission is sought for a 1.5 metre deep extension to the existing approved seating area. The unlawfully extended seating area (as currently on site) has been in place for approximately five years…”

“That original canopy has been replaced and the new, larger one extends over both the approved seating area and the additional unlawful seating area, detailed above. The new canopy for which permission is now sought is illustrated in the extract from submitted Plan 3418/01 below;”

Officer report

The site

The Old Fish Market is a detached Grade II listed building in the Pantiles and Tunbridge Wells Conservation Area, now used as a restaurant and café.

“Wider Pantiles context 1.01 The Pantiles is a Georgian colonnade in the centre of Tunbridge Wells. Broadly, it comprises Bath Square, the Upper Walk and the Lower Walk with buildings either side, most of them Grade II listed (some are Grade II* listed). There are various subsidiary, connected areas such as The Market Place, Pink Alley and Market Street.”

“Application site/background 1.05 This application relates to The Old Fish Market, which is a small, detached Grade II listed building on the Lower Walk of the Pantiles, within the Tunbridge Wells Conservation Area. As the name suggests, it was originally a fishmongers, before latterly being used as a tourist information centre.”

Officer report

Planning history

The building received permission for restaurant and café use with outdoor seating in 2013 and for a parasol or canopy in 2015.

“The Old Fish Market’s permissions for the use of the building, its outdoor seating areas and the parasol all pre-date the wider Pantiles 2015 permission for seating areas across the wider Upper/Lower Walks. Thus, the Old Fish Market sits outside…”

Officer report

Heritage and amenity

The canopy caused very minor heritage harm, but covered seating, economic benefits and the retained walkway outweighed that harm without significant residential impact.

“Very limited harm has been identified from the new canopy element of the proposal. In line with the NPPF, it is necessary to assess the level of harm against the public benefits of the proposal, including heritage benefits;”

“Due to the very limited scale of the proposal (in the context of the seating areas across the whole Pantiles) Environmental Protection were not consulted. However the fact they did not object to the variation of condition 1 of the 2015 wider Pantiles seating permission, (the permission to expand the seating areas across the Upper Walk) carries significant weight (those comments were also made when that application was to regularise a much larger unlawful area of seating…”

Officer report

What people said

Six objections raised noise, disturbance, heritage, walkway, valance and enforcement concerns, while 214 comments supported the seating and canopy.

“Noise, disturbance; • Impact on visual amenity and setting of CA/listed buildings; • Use of outdoor heaters and failure to collapse the parasol when the restaurant is closed (NB: the latter is not a requirement for any of the permitted outdoor seating areas across the Pantiles; the former is not precluded by existing permissions for the site); • Retrospective nature of application; • Walkway is narrowed by people sitting on the retaining wall between Upper and Lower Walks;…”

“Seating area and canopy contribute positively to the character and vitality of the Lower Pantiles; • Creates a welcoming space that encourages people to spend more time in the area, supporting both the business and surrounding traders; • Respects historic significance of the area; • Helps people engage with the historic setting; • Thoughtfully laid out and safe; • Valued, well used space; • Important for businesses within The Pantiles; • Aligns with historic use of…”

Officer report

Who spoke

Councillor Matthew Sankey spoke as the applicant.

Members’ discussion

Members considered the arrangement a reasonable compromise and felt the building was being used consistently with its heritage, with appropriate space around it.

“Committee Member debate and Officer clarification included:”

“- Members were understanding of points from objectors however felt that an appropriate compromise had been met by all parties involved regarding outdoor seating. - It was felt to be fortunate that the building was being utilised in keeping with its heritage and the outdoor seating arrangement was deemed reasonable, with regard given to the space around it. - Thanks were extended to the Officer for approaching the matter sensitively.”

Minutes

The vote

Councillor Osborne proposed approval and Councillor Neville seconded it; members voted to approve in line with the officer recommendation.

“Decision/voting – On the basis that members were satisfied that all relevant planning considerations had been covered within the report, a motion was proposed by Councillor Osborne, seconded by Councillor Neville and a vote was taken to approve the application in line with the officer recommendation.”

Minutes

The decision

The application was granted subject to the plans, conditions and informatives set out in the agenda report.

“RESOLVED – That application PLA196/25 be granted subject to the plans, conditions and informatives as set out in the agenda report.”

Minutes

Conditions applied

Conditions control the approved plans, opening hours, seating location, enclosure, walkway gap and canopy design, including removal of the valance.

“2) The extended outdoor seating area hereby approved shall not be in use other than between the hours of 08.30 and 12 midnight on any day.”

“6) Only the canopy/parasol shown on the approved plan shall be used pursuant to this planning permission. The canopy/parasol shall not include a valance and the valance on the existing canopy shall be removed within three months of the date of this decision notice.”

Officer report