A restaurant in Caversham is in trouble with the council after it built a riverside dining area without permission.
The Persian Palace Middle Eastern restaurant has been trading since at least 2019, taking over from the former Pimilico riverbank nightclub after a long vacancy.
The menu of the restaurant boasts a range of dishes including Persian grills, soups, stews and sundries.
Early last year, the business owner applied for retrospective permission for a covered riverside seating area containing 12 tables for guests and access to the restaurant.
The application was retrospective because the riverside dining area had already been built.
However, following an assessment by Reading Borough Council planning officer Steve Vigar, it was judged that the covered area does not fit with the existing restaurant building and fits in poorly with the riverside.
The Environment Agency objected to the seating area as well, stating that it presents ‘unacceptable’ flood risk, and that a more detailed flood risk assessment would be required for the agency to remove its objection.
The plan also faced opposition from the Caversham and District Residents Association, which also raised concerns about flooding.
Helen Lambert, the chair of the association, wrote: In addition to the concern over a river structure being constructed without any permissions, the retrospective application clearly does not represent the structure in place.
“This is not a terrace and canopy, but an enclosed structure which clearly
impedes the flow of the river when river levels are high. It also places additional pressure on the historic Caversham Bridge.”
Judging the project, Mr Vigar wrote: “The development by reason of its excessive scale, inappropriate form, unsympathetic materials and finishes and prominent sitting projecting into the river, relates poorly to the host building and adjacent bridge and appears as a discordant and piecemeal addition to the building façade.
“This unsatisfactory arrangement is harmful to the appearance of the site itself, harmful to the open character of the River Thames at this location and harmful to views upstream from Caversham Bridge.”
The application for retrospective permission was therefore refused in June last year.
You can view the refused application by typing reference PL/24/0022 into the council’s planning portal.
The covered seating area remains in place pending negotiations between the business owner and the council.
The business owner was issued with an enforcement notice by the council, which typically requests that any buildings constructed without permission be taken down.
However, an appeal has been launched against this notice.
No start date or decision has been set for the appeal yet.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has attempted to contact Persian Palace for comment.
