Entertainu Ltd has launched a challenge, under section 288 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, to an inspector’s decision that backed Westminster City Council’s refusal of consent for use of the basement and part of the ground floor of 26 Wardour Street, London W1, as a “hostess bar”.
The council claims that the use of the premises has been changed, without consent, from Class A3 food and drink use to that of a “hostess bar”.
Kevin Leigh, counsel for Entertainu, said that the company had operated the premises as a sex establishment for the past four to five years, and had not sought to flout the planning system. He claimed that the company had already made genuine efforts to regularise the planning position and had spent considerable sums complying with the council’s licensing regime in the mistaken belief that such use was lawfully permitted.
He contended that the inspector had been wrong to find that the establishment was out of character with the Chinatown conservation area, arguing that the premises were within the area designated by the council’s development plan as being an appropriate location for sex-related uses.
Sarah-Jane Davies, counsel for the Secretary of State, said that the effect of the establishment upon the conservation area was “entirely a matter of judgment upon which the inspector had formed a view, having seen written reports and having made two site visits”.
The hearing continues.
Entertainu Ltd v Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions and another Queen’s Bench Division: Administrative Court (Collins J) 6 May 2003.
References: PLS News 5/6/03
