Blackpool's Terrace Bar locks horns over planning row with council in fight for survival

A seafront bar in Blackpool is locking horns with the council once more in its long-running battle with town hall planners.

The operators of the Terrace Bar next to Central Pier lost an appeal last summer after challenging the council's decision to refuse planning permission for the outdoor venue. The council then served an enforcement notice on the premises last November. But documents presented to a meeting of the council's Planning Committee show an appeal has been lodged against the enforcement notice.

The notice was issued in relation to the "use of the land for the siting of an outdoor bar with seating area, decking, balustrading, containers, canopy and boundary treatment, without planning permission."

The dispute harks back to 2021 when it was discovered the bar had been operating without planning permission. A retrospective planning application was submitted but was turned down by the council in October 2022. A subsequent appeal was thrown out by an independent planning inspector in August last year.

Previously the bar's operators have suggested they would challenge any enforcement action under rules which state some developments which have been in place for more than four years are immune from requiring planning permission

Documents submitted with the original application state the Terrace Bar began life as a pop-up bar in 2017 to support a classic car show, with decking, seating and a canopy added later. The Blackpool Pier Company, which owns the Terrace Bar, says revenue from the venue is vital to help fund maintenance of the town's three Victorian piers.