Pub bosses launch second attempt to put helicopter in garden for use by diners

The move by Fourways Bar and Grill in Rowley Regis would see the Westland Lynx helicopter lowered into the pub’s garden to be used by up to ten diners.

A new outdoor seating area for up to 60 people, which proved controversial with Sandwell Council, has been scrapped.

The application was rejected by Sandwell Council last year over concerns extra customers would lead to off-street parking and more noise for neighbours. The council’s planners said the pub had not shown it could accommodate 70 more visitors or their cars.

Drawings in the application showed the former army helicopter on a raised platform with space inside for up to ten people to eat and drink. A new outdoor seating area for up to 60 people would also have been built.

Two plans for a new outdoor seating area were rejected by Sandwell Council last year over concerns the extra customers would flood the pub’s car park and cause issues at a busy junction.

Rejecting the application last year, council planners said the helicopter and raised platform would be “unduly prominent” and “out-of-character for the area.”

“The proposal to create external seating areas does cause serious concern because there are houses on Portway Road and Portway Hill close to the site and residents are likely to be adversely affected by noise from up to 70 customers using the outside areas,” planners said.

The council said the Rowley Regis desi pub had not shown how it could cope with parking from the proposed extra customers and planners were worried it would cause road safety issues if allowed to go ahead.

The new application, which scrapped the new outdoor seating area, included a transport survey by specialists CTS Traffic and Transportation which said there were “no significant issues” with parking at the grill.

“The proposal is to site the helicopter to the rear of the property with storage underneath but no change to the current provision of covers,” the survey said. “The location is as far away from the vision of passing motorists as possible to ensure no opportunity for any distraction to occur. The helicopter is a further static display of items outside the property provided to entertain guests and help them feel their visit was memorable.

“The siting of the helicopter does not add or remove any regular seating for customers, but would actually reduce space available outside marginally.

“At the time of writing this report, there was no evidence of any significant issue with excess parking, although some verge parking was observed despite spaces being available in the car parks. However, that did not appear to cause any blocking of access or any highway issues and occurred when spaces remained available nearby in all cases.”