Beer garden plan rejected at town centre pub

A TOWN centre pub at Warrington has been refused permission to rip up a landscaped shrubbery and flower beds and replace them with an extended beer garden.
Borough council planning chiefs have rejected an application by JD Wetherspoon to make the changes outside the Looking Glass in Buttermarket Street.
Members of the council’s development management committee were told the proposal was to hard pave the area, with tree grids placed are existing retained trees. The shrubbery and flowerbed would be lost, but planters with seasonal planting would be introduced.
Officers believed the proposals would, in time, damage existing trees which would have to be removed. This would have a visual impact on the character and appearance of that part of the town centre.
There were locally listed important buildings opposite and the site was at an important road junction at the entrance to a conservation area. Officers believed the scheme would result in the loss of an attractive publicspace.
The committee agreed to refuse planning consent.