Brewery's new tap room on ice after planning consent rejected

BLUE MONKEY BEER FANS LEFT 'FROTHING AT THE MOUTH' SAYS BOSS

- By LYNETTE PINCHESS

THE cans are in the fridge, the pumps are ready and waiting and there’s even a jar of dog biscuits on the bar but Blue Monkey Brewery is not allowed to serve anyone.

Despite being granted a premises licence to serve alcohol, its new tap room has been mothballed after planning permission was rejected.

Nottinghamshire’s second biggest independent brewery, which produces just shy of one million pints a year at Giltbrook Industrial Park, has spent a “significant” amount of money on creating the rustic-style tap room. An empty unit next door, once sound equipment supplier Music Gear Direct, has been transformed.

The plan sought change of use from a warehouse and showroom to a tap room and shop. It was turned down on the grounds that the applicant had failed to demonstrate that there would be no adverse impact on the vitality and viability of nearby town centres, Kimberley and Eastwood.

Blue Monkey's commercial director, Ian Wesley, said fans were “frothing at the mouth”. Rather than taking business away from other pubs, he believes it would bring more drinkers to the area. “People aren’t going to stay here forever and a day. They're going to call in and move on. Planning officers don’t understand the idea of a pub crawl.

“People come out to drink various beers and they can’t do that in one pub. We are going to have signage in the Organ Grinder in Canning Circus encouraging people to jump on the bus to get here which is bringing trade from town into this area.

“It’s a little bit frustrating. We have the licence, we have the beer but we can’t serve anyone. We tried to get it to committee but the planning officer decided in his own right that we were going to take trade away from town centres.