New gastro pub in Stratford is serving pints despite not having planning permission
A NEW pub is usually cause for great excitement when so many have closed down – but the latest addition to the Stratford scene has run into fierce opposition after operating for four months without planning permission.
The Cask N Tandoor – billed as an Indian gastro pub – sits in the grounds of the Burnside Hotel in Shottery and is the latest addition to its Church Lane site. Hotel owner Rakesh Singh got planning permission for a new building to replace a timber shed, but what has appeared is wildly different. The permission was for two extra en suite bedrooms for the hotel and a plant room. What has actually materialised on site is a building more than twice the area – the footprint going from 54 sq.m to 117 sq.m – and with the pub replacing the bedrooms. It has also got an outdoor terrace leading up to Shottery Brook.
A bid for retrospective planning permission has been made to Stratford District Council and that has triggered a range of criticisms about what’s happened, including from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Stratford Town Council and nearby residents.
The pub is open to hotel guests and the general public and since launching on 6th March, its social media has documented people ordering food and drink, together with the chance to watch live sport.
The noise created by these typical uses of a pub – especially one with an outdoor space – is part of the problem but the bigger issue is the belief that it is the wrong site and that the district council should not allow the owner to carry on with something that is so different from what was approved.
Neighbours have complained that the building work has gone ahead with no respect for the brook and the wooded area across from it that runs through to Cottage Lane, home to Anne Hathaway’s Cottage. They have lodged their concerns in the comments section for the application on SDC’s planning portal.
Across a number of contributions are claims the work has damaged trees, disrupted wildlife and that spoil from the building work has been dumped in the brook – which is denied. They also say there is not enough car parking on site to support a pub, causing people to look for other places to park – and the pub is adding traffic to a main route into and out of Shottery.
The town council is an official consultee on the plan and has registered its objection. It says: “There is more to this application than simply replacing a couple of outbuildings for use ancillary to the bed and breakfast accommodation in Burnside.
“The building is being used as a separate pub to visitors not associated with the bed and breakfast. The application is insufficiently detailed and the description is misleading.
“The town council is aware that there are trees on this site and would like reassurance that the buildings have not caused damage to roots.
“Is there sufficient parking available on site for this additional use?’
A spokesperson from the Birthplace Trust told the Herald: “The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust has lodged an official objection to the retrospective planning application with Stratford District Council.
“The proposed works attempt to overdevelop the site in contravention of local planning policy and the existing restrictive covenant. It does not respect the amenity of the surrounding properties, including Anne Hathaway’s Cottage.”
Detail of the retrospective application can be found on the district council planning portal using reference 24/01417/FUL and the documents include a detailed justification for the change in a planning statement prepared by Stratford-based Stansgate Planning.
It covers a range of issues, including similarities and differences between what was given planning permission and what was built; that while it has not got planning permission it is licensed after the district council approved a premises licence before it opened – and that the work to build the terrace has improved the setting of Shottery Brook.
Mr Singh told the Herald: “There is an extant planning permission to build an outbuilding for two bedrooms in the grounds of the hotel.
“Instead, I built a bar and lounge in the same position, due to a lack of these facilities in the main hotel. I have substituted one type of hotel-related development with another.
“I acknowledge I should have sought planning permission beforehand but I submitted a retrospective planning application to regularise the matter. The law allows this.”
And he refuted claims made by residents: “Rubble from the building work has not been dumped in Shottery Brook. The course of it is not affected. No trees have been felled.
“The new gabion wall reduces flood risk by preventing land slipping into the brook and blocking its flow.”
In terms of traffic, he added: “I have successfully operated a parking management plan since 2020 and the new bar/lounge does not cause a parking problem.”
He added: “The new bar has been running incident free and without any complaints since its opening.”
He further pointed out that the Cask N Tandoor was in line with government policy and policies in both the Stratford District Core Strategy and the Stratford Neighbourhood Development Plan that support tourism related development.
