Was this pub mural really an ‘advertisement’ that had to go? Well, it’s gone now

BY the time you read this, the rather splendid mural pictured, which had added an attractive splash of colour to the end of the Boat Inn at Cromford, will be gone. It will have been painted over because officials at Derbyshire Dales District Council decreed that it was an “advertisement” and that, as such, the pub’s owner should have applied for planning permission to have it done.

There were no official objections to the painting, which was done by a guy called Caiomhin (it’s pronounced Kweeveen and he preferred to be referred to only by his first name for the purposes of the article).

Indeed, the chairman of the council’s planning committee, Garry Purdy, is a councillor for Masson ward, which covers Cromford. He lives in Cromford himself and admitted he had no personal objection to the picture, nor had he been presented with any objections.

Still, rules is rules, and during the course of the last two days, the mural is disappearing. The owner of the pub is a businessman called Jonathan Smith, who gave Caiomhin permission to paint the picture. The licensee, well known in pub circles and in the pages of the Derby Telegraph, is Dave Mountford, who battles hard for the rights of pub tenants and managers against big pubcos the length and breadth of the country – while he and his wife Lorraine still find time to run one of the best pubs in the Peak District. Mr Smith could have applied retrospectively for planning permission and the picture would still be there as I write, pending that application being dealt with.

But the word from the council Dave Mountford Main picture, above right, shows the Boat Inn’s mural in all the glory the council didn’t like. Left, painting over it started yesterday and will be finished by now.

was that the application would have would have been unlikely to succeed.

An official told me they have a duty to “protect the general character of the conservation area”.

Dave Mountford says he’s heard nothing but good things about the picture, both from customers, local residents and even neighbouring businesses, which include the famous Scarthin Bookshop, 50 yards up the road.

Even so, knowing what officialdom is like, he did warn Mr Smith and Caiomhin that there was a chance they might have a problem.

“I didn’t want it costing anything but I told Caiomhin if he wanted to do it, he could, and he did,” says Dave.

“I thought some of the locals might not like it but the reaction was brilliant. Everyone said it was fantastic and it really brightened up the back of the pub. That said, we didn’t want to spend money putting an application in if there was no chance of permission being granted.

“So, we’ll sort it. Out with the paintbrushes and it will go.

“It’s another example of how local government works. Rather than focus their attention on meaningful community support such as filling pot holes or improving services, they focus on enforcing questionable planning law, reducing the enjoyment and pleasure that a local community have gained from our mural.

“How it is somehow ‘advertising’ is ludicrous, in my opinion, as it’s our pub and I would suggest that we have a perfect right to advertise on it but I suppose the law is the law.

“I suppose it’s another example of how, after nearly tripling our business rates, therefore penalising us for our success, the local council force further costs on a small community pub.”

What is any pub sign, I wonder, but an advertisement? Ah well. Last word to the artist.

“It’s such a shame. I think everyone seemed to love it,” says Caiomhin.

““I had recently moved to Cromford and I thought it would be a nice way to introduce myself to the community – and it’s a great community.

“I didn’t want paying for it, I just love doing things like this. I’ve done others in London and in America.

“I’d like to do others around the area. In fact, I’d thought about giving the council a ring and asking them about doing some but I’m not so sure about that now.

“I know they have their regulations but if they’d canvassed the people in the area, I think they’d have found no-one had any problem with it.”

I think he’s probably right. You may think – and you may be right – that this is small beer in the light of the week’s events.

Sadly, though, it’s a small example of how bureaucrats and too many politicians tend to think.

Similar thinking applies further up, to bigger things, but the principle is much the same.