Owners appeal against pub extension rejection

Protestors a year ago this week outside the Town Hall campaigned against Enterprise Inns' plans (Image: Archant)

A planning appeal will be heard next month which will go some way to determining whether The Bristol House pub will ever open again.

Protestors a year ago this week outside the Town Hall campaigned against Enterprise Inns' plans (Image: Archant)

The Milton Road watering hole has been subject to much speculation ever since owner Enterprise Inns first looked to sell it to Tesco in 2012.

Plans for an extension to the pub were rejected by councillors a year ago this week, amid fears the building work would be done to encourage Tesco to buy the premises.

At the time, members said the planning application was simply a ‘Trojan horse’ promising to create a bigger pub but actually opening the door for the supermarket giant. A lack of car parking and the impact on road safety were highlighted as causes for concern.

North Somerset Council has revealed this week that Enterprise Inns’ appeal against its members’ decision will be heard later this month.

Tesco’s interest sparked a community backlash, including a petition backed by thousands, which continued this summer with the pub being listed as a community asset.

The pub closed for a second time in June, six months after it re-opened following the failed planning application, and campaigner Mark Thayer said people just want it back.

He said: “We have a lot of followers and supporters who wish, with the right operator, to use the pub again and help to get it back to the days when it was a super venue.

“This is a campaign and that has been running for over a year with a 3,000-strong petition to re-open the pub and a massive backing towards finding the right people to go in there.”

Council planning and highways officers have written to the independent inspectorate to say the appeal should be rejected.