Swanage seafood bar's problem pagoda

Mick Storer, who has run Gee White’s on the quay since 1982, put the pagoda up a year ago to replace a canvas canopy over the outdoor seating area.

He said the timber and thatch structure covered the same area as the previous canopy, but in March Purbeck District Council’s enforcement officers were called in after a complaint.

Today councillors will decide whether the structure can stay, but despite almost 500 letters of support and just two against, officers are recommending it is not given retrospective planning permission.

Mick said: “I just hoped it wouldn’t need permission, I still consider it to be a temporary building. I was incredibly disappointed. I think they should listen and let me have some sort of compromise.

“It’s extremely popular with local people, it’s not antisocial, we’re all packed up and home by 10pm. There’s pheno-menal support for it, that’s what I can’t understand.”

This year the bar is fully booked on Christmas Day and Mick said being ordered to tear the structure down would destroy his winter trade. Although this year he probably wouldn’t have to take it down before Christmas, next year would be a different story.

Mick added: “We wouldn’t be able to open on Christmas Day. I wouldn’t be able to open from the end of October onwards.”

In their report, planners said they considered the pagoda was “unsympathetic” to its surroundings due to its size, form and design.

It stated: “It therefore fails to preserve or enhance the character and appearance of this prominent site within the Swanage Conservation Area. The materials are considered to add to the prominence of the development and are out of keeping with the character, appearance and local distinctiveness of the surroundings.”

The report added that the problems outweighed “any support for the development in relation to contributing to the vitality of the town centre”.