Greater Manchester pub ordered to tear down 'unlawful eyesore' WINS latest planning battle

A popular gastro pub has won a planning battle to keep its outside bar – but will still have to pull down an ‘unauthorised and unlawful’ giant tepee it uses to host weddings and other celebrations. A planning committee meeting of Bury council heard the Eagle and Child – on Whalley Road, Ramsbottom – built several outside structures without permission during Covid pandemic, which have been in operation ever since.

The tepee was the subject of a rejected planning application last year which was turned down on the basis of the generation of traffic and noise. The timber frame and UPVC tepee had capacity for up to 72 people and was described by owners Daniel Thwaites as an ‘essential part of the business’ before being told to tear it down last year.

This week, a retrospective planning application sought the retention of an external bar where customers are served drinks in the beer garden. The structure also houses a pizza oven with Thwaites saying that feature ‘has been hugely successful’.

Permission was also sought for a covered pergola and a toilet block. Helen Binns addressed the meeting on behalf of pub’s operators, Daniel Thwaites.

She said: “The pub sector is really struggling and pubs are closing on a daily basis due to not being financially viable. This is particularly the case for smaller premises like the Eagle and Child.

“In order to survive we’ve had to evolve and diversify. If pubs are unable to do this the simple fact is we risk losing them forever.

“The improvements contained in this planning application are modest in scale but being substantial benefits to the pub.” The planning committee heard from head of development at the council, David Marno.

He said: “The tepee is being used as a venue in its own right.