A COUPLE have said they will tie themselves to the giant pirate ship in their garden if the council tries to remove it.
The parents-of-four and publicans Donna and Waine Hetherington, say they have been left feeling heartbroken after the council insisted they require planning permission to keep their enormous vessel.
A couple have said they will tie themselves to the giant pirate ship in their garden if the council tries to remove it[/caption]
Donna and Waine Hetherington say they have been left feeling heartbroken following complaints[/caption]
The couple host events in their pub garden for families[/caption]
They collaborated with Extreme Fun, a pop up play park business, three years ago to host family-friendly events in the field behind the pub in Prince of Wales Road.
Extreme Fun comes during Easter weekend, with bouncy castles, rock climbing walls and other activities, and comes and goes throughout the summer.
But Tandridge District Council have told the couple they need planning permission for Extreme fun area and the pirate ship following complaints.
Donna and Waine said as all the fixtures are movable, they didn’t realise they needed planning permission, and have never had an issue up until now.
Donna told SurreyLive: “We’re struggling anyway, small businesses and pubs have taken a bashing at the moment and we put something in place we didn’t know was breaching anything. The bouncy castles are movable nothing is fixed.
“We don’t get any profit from the kids play area, it was a good set up. It’s really frustrating that two to three people speak louder than 700 to 1,000 customers.”
Due to the pub’s remote location Donna said relying on food and drink simply wouldn’t be enough.
The events have been a hit with customers, and now more than 958 people have signed a petition to keep the pirate ship and Extreme Fun on site.
Reacting to the news that Extreme Fun may not return and that the pirate ship may need to be sold, one customer wrote via Facebook: “We can all tie ourselves to it and do a sitting protest,” while another penned: “This is outrageous! The kids love the pirate ship. Didn’t the pub exist before the neighbour moved there??”
Extreme Fun use the field for free, and keep entry costs at £10 for the day per person, which gives entire access to the whole site.
Parents can sit in the garden of the pub and enjoy food and drink while their children play.
Donna added: “We are fighting to get it back. We will apply for planning permission but it will cost around £1,500.”
Brewery Hall and Woodhouse have agreed to assist with the planning application, and cover any associated costs.
However, it could take a while for the application to be processed, which means Extreme Fun will have to be delayed until a decision has been made.
With the rising cost of living and economic hurdles businesses face, the pair are worried for the coming year.
Business rates have risen from £350 to £850 per month for the pub, and minimum wage is increasing, as well as the price of drinks, which is all going to impact the pub.
After a quiet winter, Donna says they rely on summer events to keep afloat.
She added: “It is heartbreaking, first of all and we have really struggled, we are in the middle of nowhere off the beaten track, people don’t come to us but as soon as the sun shine comes they do.
We are known as a summer pub and we have got to make money in the summer, taking that away is going to make it impossible.”
Donna and Waine launched the petition to save Extreme Fun at the Dog and Duck, which has received more than 700 comments from customers.
One wrote: “It’s so difficult to get the children off electricals and to play outside.
What are your rights in this situation?
If the council refuse planning permission you can appeal their decision. Appeals can take several months to be decided.
You can only appeal against a decision if the LPA:
- Refuses your application
- Grants permission but with conditions you object to
- Refuses to change or remove a condition of planning permission that has been granted with conditions
- Refuses to approve something reserved under an ‘outline permission’ – planning permission for a general idea, not of a specific plan
- Refuses to approve something that you were told to build by your LPA as part of a previous planning permission – the current development was one of the ‘conditions’ stated in the previous planning permission
- Does not make a decision on the application within the deadline and does not get your written consent to change the deadline
serves you with an enforcement notice because it thinks you have broken planning permission and you do not agree
“This place is an absolute gem and it gets the children outside, playing, meeting others, and supporting a local business.
It would be such a shame to lose it and would be detrimental to the business, the children and the families in the area.”
Another wrote: “Because it’s pure joy for the children” as one penned: “We need a safe space for our children to have fun. To ensure we do not lose all the facilities available that help bond the community.”
Mark James, business partnerships director at Hall & Woodhouse, said: “We are committed to supporting our business partners with guidance and financial assistance when required.
As such, we have proactively engaged a planning consultant to ensure we’re providing the very best advice on this matter and to the team at The Dog and Duck.
“Our planning consultant advised that it is unlikely that permission will be granted for the funfair at The Dog and Duck, mainly due to the constraints of being within the Green Belt.
In light of this, we are working with our business partners to explore an alternative temporary solution, which doesn’t require planning permission, but should still enable the pub to run the funfair for key events over the year.
“However, should our business partners decide to pursue planning permission for this site, we have agreed to provide additional support.”
Customers of the Dog and Duck are pulling together to save the pirate ship[/caption]
Punters called the pub’s ship ‘pure joy for the children’[/caption]
