Councillors have turned down plans for a heritage tea room to open until 10pm a dozen nights a year after multiple objections from neighbours. Merly’s Kitchen occupies part of the ground floor of Damhouse, a Grade II-listed building at Astley Hall Drive, Astley.
Morts Astley Heritage Trust, a charity that operates the Damhouse, currently has a licence for Merly’s to operate from 8am to 8pm. Wigan council’s planning committee decided to turn down an application to vary those opening hours to 10pm for a maximum of 12 evenings per year.
Heritage and current use
The Damhouse is presently home to 14 businesses including a nursery. The tearoom has a maximum capacity of approximately 48 customers. The site has significant historical importance, having originally served as a manor house before later being used as hospital offices.
In 1994, when the hospital board sold the premises, the trust was formed by local residents to safeguard the building and its heritage for future generations. A significant portion of the building retains features dating back to the 1600s. The trust promotes the historical value of the site by offering guided tours and is also responsible for the maintenance and safety of the surrounding grounds and woodland.
Objections and support
The extended hours application received 19 objections. Peter Woodhall addressed the meeting on behalf of objectors from Astley Hall Drive Residents’ Association. He said: “The vast majority of members object to the extension of hours on the basis that there is no justifiable commercial need. The current hours should be perfectly sufficient for Damhouse and its tenants.”
He added: “Our question is to the committee is ‘when is a heritage tea room not a heritage tea room’? In our view if this kind of time extension is granted along with the existing alcohol licence it puts the tearoom into a potentially different use class. The residents object to anything which may lead to the creation of a night time economy at Damhouse given the extent of day time problems that have already been inflicted on us.”
Bev Jordan, a trustee of Morts Astley Heritage Trust, spoke in support of the plans. She said: “This application is to allow a small business to operate flexibly, thus supporting our charity to help protect Damhouse. The tearoom already has permission to open until 8pm but in reality is closed by 4pm on the majority of days.”
She continued: “We are not seeking regular late night opening, we simply want the flexibility to accommodate occasional small scale activities. We introduced a limit of 12 occasions per year as we recognise the importance of being considerate to our neighbours.”
Decision and reason for refusal
A majority of the committee voted to reject the application. The reason for refusal given was the affect on residential amenity of neighbours.
