"The works have overdeveloped the site"
A row has erupted after a businessman built a “gaudy” Indian gastropub next door to the childhood home of William Shakespeare’s wife Anne Hathaway without planning permission.
Rakesh Singh opened The Cask n Tandoor inside the grounds of his Burnside Hotel, in the village of Shottery, Stratford-upon-Avon, in March 2024.
The restaurant is less than 700ft from the Grade II-listed cottage, where the playwright‘s wife was born in 1556.
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, who manage the cottage, said the pub building had encroached over their boundary.
They opposed a retrospective planning application submitted to Stratford-upon-Avon District Council in August, saying the pub “does not respect the character of the conservation area” and was “yet another attempt” by Mr Singh, who has applied multiple times to change buildings in the hotel grounds, to “overdevelop” the site.
Locals have also opposed the development, which they say has destroyed wildlife and is causing a light and noise nuisance.
Mr Singh could now be forced to demolish the pub after councillors voted to reject the retrospective application.
They agreed the pub failed to “enhance the character” of the area and was causing “harm” to the historic cottage next door.
One resident said: “It’s been very upsetting to watch the destruction of nature with all this building debris appearing in the brook.
“Quite simply the building should be torn down
“During the summer we could hear the football blaring out across the woodland from the pub.
“Mr Singh continues to ignore the fact that it’s a conservation area.
“I hope the district council do the right thing and enforce the demolition of this gaudy monstrosity.”
Mr Singh, who plans to appeal, originally got planning permission to replace a timber shed with two extra en-suite bedrooms for the hotel and a plant room in December 2020.
But he ran into trouble when he doubled the size of the development, with the addition of the gastropub and outdoor wooden terrace earlier in 2024.
John Careford, the council’s head of development, said six major issues with the building were identified as reasons for the refusal of the planning application.
These included a failure to “preserve or enhance the character and appearance of the conservation area” and the neighbouring Anne Hathaway’s cottage, which would be subjected to “less than substantial harm”.
The council said nearby properties could be affected by noise and lighting from the pub as well as the impact it could have on the brook, its wildlife, flooding risks and the local landscape.
A spokesperson for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust said:
“The works have overdeveloped the site in contravention of local planning policy, the existing restrictive covenant and does not respect the amenity of the surrounding properties, including Anne Hathaway’s Cottage.”
Stansgate Planning, working on behalf of Mr Singh, said:
“We are currently reviewing the reasons for refusal and all the consultation comments with a view to either submitting another planning application or appealing against the decision.”
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