30JUN25
Oxford pub bid to ‘avoid any enforcement action’ against it
An Oxford pub has made an application that will ‘avoid any enforcement action’ by the city council.
Management at The Rose and Crown in North Parade Avenue have applied for a certificate of lawful use for the awning in the beer garden.
The 40 square metre awning has been a feature of the popular boozer’s garden for more than 10 years.
But planning permission to install it was never sought back in December 2014, planning documents submitted to Oxford City Council say.
“This application is being made for the works being immune from enforcement action by virtue of the passage of time.”
However the time limit amendments made do not apply where the operations were “substantially” completed, or the breach occurred, before the day on which that new section came into force before April 2024, the agent added.
This means the work has exceeded any time limit possible for enforcement action, the agent added.
The agent said: “At no point in time has the applicant sought to conceal the development in the pub garden.
“In fact details of its installation are featured on the Rose and Crown website and the development is obvious and self-evident from public view, being in clear view for users of the pub garden.
“There is no screening or otherwise which has attempted to conceal the operational development.
“The council appears never to have taken enforcement action against the unauthorised operational development.”
The pub’s application for a certificate of lawful use to the city council is seeking confirmation that the awning is in fact lawful.
If approved, it would mean there would not be the worry of enforcement action for it by the council.
The Rose and Crown has been run by the Hall family for the past 42 years, with Andrew and Debbie arriving in 1983.
It dates back to 1863 when Daniel Stokes built and opened the Rose and Crown.
In 1877, the pub was sold to Halls Brewery and was run by the Stokes family for almost 62 years from 1925.
In 1949 the pub faced the threat of closure from Oxford City magistrates’ because there were no ladies’ lavatories.
Halls Oxford Brewery renovated the men’s for ladies’ use and built a new lavatory to the rear of the building, with urinals, for the gents.
