Benches row pub landlord left in the dark
THE bitter row between a pub landlord and Kirklees Council over the siting of 10 benches has escalated after a team of workers chopped down six lighting columns along with the fairy lights.
Mark Robertson, owner of The Plumbers Arms in Huddersfield town centre, said he was shocked by the lightning raid in the early hours of Thursday.
He has been involved in an ongoing row over the siting of the benches on a vacant piece of land between his pub and the ring road and had also received a letter saying he had not gone through the correct procedures in siting the columns which he says were erected around two years ago.
He has now reported the council to West Yorkshire Police claiming criminal damage took place during the dismantling of the columns which were put up by a suitably qualified electrician and he has shown YorkshireLive the crime reference number.
He said the incident happened at 5.30am on Thursday, sanctioned by Kirklees Council’s highways department and a council enforcement officer.
He claims a council employee called on Friday the week before to ask how the lights were wired, to confirm they had been wired correctly, and Mark’s electrician called the council and emailed over all the specifications.
Writing on the Facebook page, he continued: “So they come Thursday morning with no warning, smash a bulb outside, which trips the breaker in the bar. They then rag the lights out and try digging the post out, but couldn’t because they were too secure.
“So they leave half the posts in, and the festoon with all smashed bulbs hanging at head height.
“So my cleaner, in the morning switches the breaker back on and we are left unknowing that smashed bulbs are hanging down live outside.”
Mr Robertson claims he had applied for retrospective planning permission for the lights and was planning to create a canopy over them similar to the one outside The Junction pub at Gledholt roundabout.
He has also applied for retrospective planning permission for the benches and has begun a petition at the pub campaigning for their retention.
In a lengthy statement, Kirklees Council said it has removed a set of ornamental lighting columns that had been placed outside The Plumbers Arms on Macaulay Street, Huddersfield, without planning or highways authority consent.
In July council officers began investigating other planning breaches on-site, including the placement of benches in a public space.
At this time the officers responsible for enforcement found that the pub landlord had removed council bollards without permission or consent and fixed decorative lampposts to the highway without the necessary permissions and that these were neither structurally or electrically sound.
The council requested that the lampposts and seating were removed from the highway in July, and as this has not taken place the council has now removed them.
Once on-site, the contractors found the columns to be both structurally and electrically unsafe.
They isolated the columns from the electric supply and taken down to a safe height.
The top parts of the lampposts have been removed and placed in storage.
The council wants to reassure the public that they have followed the correct legal procedure for removing the illegally placed street furniture and will respond accordingly to any complaints from the business owner and consider any requests for payment.
A Kirklees Council spokeswoman said: “The safety of the public is of paramount importance and we have carried out these actions to prevent any accidents or injury.”
The spokeswoman added: “The council will always work to ensure that a fair balance is provided to support businesses and the economy but must balance this with protecting public safety.”
BH8 9AF BN20 8JD CH8 8NA CM21 9PX EH9 1SD
HA4 0RG HR2 8LJ LE18 1JX LL19 8TL LL32 8LA
LS15 9BB NN29 7LN PO4 0BW PR25 4QF S42 7AT
S62 6BS SA61 1NS SK14 4HT ST3 3ER WS7 2DY