SUPPORT OUR PLANNING APPLICATION

As many of you are aware, we are currently unable to offer full use of our lovely garden at the Duke of Clarence Hampton Hill

We feel you, as loyal customers and locals to our community, are owed an explanation and offer some insight on how we ended up in this unfortunate position. 

When we first took over the Pub in 2023, we wanted to turn the formally Bloated Mallard, into a stylish community hub where everyone could relax and enjoy their local establishment and ensure it was presented in a manner befitting of the Hampton Hill area.

With this ambition and following a complete refurbishment of the pub interior, we then set ourselves the task of renovating the fabulous garden space. Substantial time and effort was dedicated to evaluating a range of options with lots of ideas, layouts and designs. 

The obvious initial phase was removal of the old garages which contained asbestos and a clean up the waste ground that was located behind those garages. Also, following consultation with a qualified tree surgeon some dead trees and bushes also had to be removed.

Once all was cleared, we were left with an extremely old and unfit wooden decking, broken concrete and tiles, and just old soil and rubbish. To improve the gardens appearance, we undertook deep cleaning and renovation of the entire area and installed a raised deck (30cm), in order to try and provide a more relaxed, high quality environment for everyone to use.

Pretty much from this moment onwards, we started to receive complaints, from a very small minority of neighbours, they were instantly opposed to any sort of changes to the garden and stated that they would report anything they could to the council, despite its relevance.

As expected, an officer from the Council visited the Pub and did their own assessment and ultimately decided that we needed to apply for retrospective planning, as they stated that the changes we had implemented to transform an unsafe eyesore into a suitable family space wasn’t “like for like “and therefore required approval. We respected and understood the reans, but argued that removing asbestos laden buildings and tons of rubbish, within a garden meant for families and customers, wasn’t really an option but a health and safety necessity.

Since applying for the planning application, a “Noise Impact Assessment” was carried out by the council to ensure we were covering all relevant concerns. We accepted all the items raised in the report and we confirmed we would take any action needed to mitigate potential noise and ensure it wouldn’t become a disturbance to our neighbours.

We agreed to raise the fence towards the rear of the garden further, which we haven't installed yet, purely because we are waiting for the final decision on the planning application from the committee that only convenes once a month.  We were also asked to replace some of the dead trees that were cleared out towards the rear of the garden to offer further screening to the neighbours, six brand new trees have since been planted.

Ultimately, despite doing everything we have been asked, we were recently instructed by the council not to use the decking part of the garden, until the planning application is approved, due to constant complaints from our neighbours.

We appreciate the council’s position and have sadly had to accept not to use that part of the garden, as we can’t afford to have any enforcement notices put on the Pub and make things even worse for ourselves. 

Sadly and very personally, we feel the complaints aimed at the Duke of Clarence are false and have been done maliciously by a very small number of local people with the aim to continually hurt the operation of the Pub

On a positive note, we could not have been happier for everyone's support and words of encouragement, alongside the endless compliments we have received since the Duke opened its doors last year, they are truly appreciated

A special thank you goes out to Valda, Kay & John, our closest next-door neighbours and the ones that have been exposed most to the pub garden environment, they have been the most supporting, kind and loyal neighbours, customers and friends we could have ever wished for. 

We hope this communication provides you with the information that many of you have been asking of us and we hope to update you in the soon with a positive response from the council

Please support our planning application in any way you can, so we can keep the garden at the Duke of Clarence as a space that everyone can enjoy and be proud of.

You can write to the council after reviewing our proposal here .

In public comments click on Public Comment - Support

Thank you ALL so much for the continuous support.

Love,

The Duke of Clarence family <3