Purpose

This
decision is taken under delegated powers set out in Paragraph 145 of the
Officer Scheme of Delegation in the Council’s constitution, which grants
delegated authority to undertake all action in order to regulate any actual,
perceived or potential breach of any

of
the Town and Country Planning Legislation including:

 

To
determine whether or not to take and/or to cease action whether because in

his/her
opinion the breach is trivial, there is insufficient demonstrable harm and/or,
it

is
not expedient to take / continue to take action

 

This
authority has been delegated to me through the Local Scheme of Nomination for
the Executive Director for Place.

Content

Decision: To take no further action.

 

This decision is taken under delegated powers set out in
Paragraph 145 of the Officer Scheme of Delegation in the Council’s
constitution, which grants delegated authority to undertake all action in order
to regulate any actual, perceived or potential breach of any

of the Town and Country Planning Legislation including:

 

To determine whether or not to take and/or to cease action
whether because in

his/her opinion the breach is trivial, there is insufficient
demonstrable harm and/or, it

is not expedient to take / continue to take action

 

This authority has been delegated to me through the Local
Scheme of Nomination for the Executive Director for Place.

Reasons for the decision

The purpose of this report is to provide an assessment of
the facts in this case and to report on the expediency to take enforcement
action to remedy the identified breach of planning control, which in this case
relates to a premises formerly known as The Galley Bistro. This is now called
‘Sticks and Bones’ and is now principally a pub/restaurant, and so would fall
within the same Commercial Business class E(b). 

The premises is located within Hope Square, Weymouth with
the rear of the property being in St. Leonards Road/Trinity Street. The whole
of the area is within the Weymouth Conservation Area, which was designated in
December 2012 after the adoption of the Weymouth Town Centre Conservation Area
Character Appraisal. The document supports conservation area policies in the
Weymouth & Portland Local Plan (Adopted 2005).

 

The allegation suggested that a newly installed air
conditioning unit was breaching planning control. This had apparently been
installed at the rear of the newly refurbished property.

 

Upon contact with the complainant it was also suggested that
a previous complaint regarding an established extractor unit had not been
addressed.

 

A site visit identified that the unit in question was not an
air-con extractor but a cooling unit for the newly installed cellar at the
premises. It had been located on a rear first floor balcony. Apparently the
complainant had already made his feelings clear to the owners, who had
installed around the unit a wooden box to diminish the noise. (When the site
was visited, the unit was not working, although the complainant suggested this
took place 24/7).

 

Images were taken of the installed unit which identified
that it was sympathetically located out of public view, being able to be seen
only by persons who reside in Trinity Street, and only then should they look
out of their rear first floor windows towards the unit. It was suggested by the
site manager that another proposed location would have been on the outside wall
of the property, directly opposite the old brewery, and exposed to public view.

 

The second extractor identified by the complainant was
investigated by another officer in 2016. WP/ENF/16/00170. It was concluded then
that this unit had been in place for a number of years as part of the kitchen
extractor system. Google images that are available from 2009 suggest this was
already in place, although the chimney unit has had a number of different
shapes. Nevertheless, this has been in place for over 4 years and so immune
from enforcement.

 

Due to the fact that the new unit was constructed within the
conservation area, a conservation officer was updated. Her conclusions are
below:-

 

Following discussions with PB and upon consideration of the
description of works and accompanying photographs, I have the following
comments. 

The former Gallery Bistro, Hope Square is not Listed however
there are various Listed buildings within close proximity including Brewer
Quay.  The property is within the
Weymouth Town Centre Conservation Area.

The extractor fan is to the rear of the building and not
visible from the street scene.  It
appears from the photographs that the fan is in a discrete location, neutral in
colour and covered.  It is therefore
concluded that the fan is not considered to have detrimental impact on the host
building nor the Conservation Area.

The renovation works to the front façade include a mural
motif at high level.  There are several
examples of this type of advertising around the Harbour and again this is not
considered to have a detrimental impact on the host building nor the
Conservation Area.

The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (Section 172)
provides for the taking of enforcement action where there has been a breach of
planning control and where it is expedient to do so, having had regard to the
provisions of the development plan and any other material considerations.  The key issue for consideration is therefore
whether expediency exists to pursue enforcement action for the reported breach
of planning control which will be examined below.

 

The impact of the development at the venue is of little or
no significant upon the Weymouth Conservation area. It’s discrete location and
size suggests the owners have identified the need to preserve the conservation
areas requirements. Although it is accepted that the unit may generate some
noise when operating, this would not be a matter for consideration within
planning.

 

Although this unit would be considered as development, there
is little or no impact upon the Conservation Area of Weymouth, so that the harm
caused is de minimus.

 

It is concluded that it would not be expedient to take
enforcement action in this matter.

Alternative options considered

The alternative option would be to pursue formal enforcement
action. However, due to this matter being of low planning harm, it is not
expedient to pursue formal action. This is in line with Government guidance
which suggests that Local Planning Authorities should act proportionately in
responding to suspected breaches of planning control.