- Decision
- allowed, 25 August 2026
- Decided by
- Planning Inspector: Richard Snow
- Authority
- Ashfield (East Midlands)
- Appeal reference
- 6011598
- Application reference
- V/2025/0437
- Procedure
- written representations
- Development
- Change of use of restaurant (Class E) to drinking establishment with expanded food (sui generis), later opening hours
- Site context
- inside settlement
- Green Belt
- No
- Framework applied
- August 2026 NPPF
- Determinative policies
- DM6
- Development plan policies
- Ashfield Local Plan Review 2002 ST1
- Main issues
- noise and disturbance
Summary
Town-centre restaurant to late-night bar. Allowed with conditions on hours, closed doors and windows during music, and a staff-only first-floor flat. The Inspector held that an occupancy restriction on the flat "would meet the tests in the new Framework, including its enforceability" (DL ¶11). The Framework changes were "not material" (DL ¶4).
What made the difference
A town-centre location with other late venues, an acoustic report the EHO accepted, and a staff tie on the only directly affected dwelling. Licensing and noise abatement remain available for poor management (DL ¶15).
Policy findings
Policy codes are those of the National Planning Policy Framework (August 2026) unless a development plan is named.
| Policy | Finding | Weight | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| P3(2)(b) | pass | town-centre context, acoustic report, EHO no objection; hours aligned with other venues (DL 7-16) | |
| DM6 | pass | condition restricting first-floor flat to staff meets the "tests in the new Framework, including its enforceability" (DL 11, 17-20) |
Key facts
- Opening to 01:00 weekdays and 02:00 weekends; doors closed during music; flat tied to staff
- Police incident data not linked to the site given little weight (DL 13)
Sources
This note is one of the decisions behind the NPPF 2026 Navigator, which shows how each Framework test has been applied across all the decisions in the database. Also available as Markdown.