Basildon Council has blown away two separate attempts by dining venues to put up marquees on a long-term basis.

The fabric function rooms in the grounds of the two venues, the Belvedere, in Hardings Elm Road, Crays Hill, and Stock Brook Manor, Billericay, follow a trend in the catering industry.

Many hotels and restaurants are now expanding their facilities with the help of marquees, in the hopes of doing away with the requirement for planing permission.

However, an inspector's decision on the Belvedere has set down new guidelines, which may restrict the use of canvas in the future. The marquee was described as an inappropriate development.

The inspector said the marquee had "a significant adverse effect on the openness of the area", which is in the green belt, and that there were no circumstances to justify retaining it for annual use.

Use of the marquee must now cease within three months, and it must be dismantled and removed from the site within four months. The land must be restored to grass.

At Stock Brook Manor golf and country club, Basildon council's development control committee rejected a retrospective application to erect a marquee from May to September annually.

A club representative told the committee if permission was refused, the club would simply move the marquee on a regular basis, to negate the need for planning permission.

Published Tuesday August 17, 2004

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