Junction pub in Rainford loses appeal over marquee refusal

The Junction pub in Rainford had its plans for the siting of the marquee and storage containers on the land to the rear of the site for five years, refused by St Helens Council.

Landlord Paul Draper appealed against the decision to the Planning Inspectorate.

Mr Draper said the marquee has been in place for seven years, pre-dating the pandemic, and holds many important events which are vital for the viability of the pub’s future.

In the latest plans, the pub said the marquee not only represents an opportunity for a "diversified income stream", securing its short-term viability, but is also used by a number of local community groups, ‘bolstering the community value’ of the marquee.

The marquee at the Junction (Image: Submitted)

It added: “If planning permission is not granted, there is a realistic prospect that the business will fail, resulting in the loss of 12 full-time and 14 part-time local jobs, together with the loss of an important local facility.”

The pub argued that “significant weight should be given to the very special circumstances, which are set out within this submission” and that these are “material considerations in outweighing any impact on the openness of the green belt”.

What the Planning Inspectorate said

However, inspector Hannah Ellison dismissed the appeal and said there was “not compelling evidence” to outweigh the “harm” to the green belt.

In her decision, the inspector stated “it has not been convincingly demonstrated that the public house would be unviable without such events within the marquee. The potential for job losses and any other negative economic effects is therefore unclear”.

She added: “With regards to employment, whilst the increase in jobs over recent years is evident, whether this is directly related to the marquee or as a result of other matters concerning the public house, is ambiguous. As noted, the marquee would only create one job which, although a benefit, the weight to be afforded to this is limited.”

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The inspector added: “Based on all of the above, the evidence before me is not compelling enough to indicate that, should this appeal be dismissed, the public house would close which would result in significant social and economic harmful effects, or that it could not be expanded in other ways to remain viable” and said “the appeal scheme is inappropriate development in the Green Belt”.

Ms Ellison added: “The other considerations in this case which weigh in favour of the proposal amount to limited weight and thus do not clearly outweigh the harm I have identified.

“Thus, the very special circumstances required to justify a grant of planning permission do not exist”.