Cafe bar forced to close tea garden unveils ‘crucial’ survival plan – Nottinghamshire Live

A cafe bar that was forced by planners to close its tea garden is hoping to build an extension to double the capacity inside.

Tipsy T used the back garden and built a conservatory during lockdown in 2020 when hospitality was hit by the restraints of the pandemic.

However, last summer planners instructed the owner Chris Brewer to remove the structure, which didn't have planning permission, and close the garden to customers after neighbours in nearby homes complained about the noise.

The business, in Woodborough Road, Mapperley Top, tried to apply for retrospective planning permission but it was refused.

Mrs Brewer has now applied to Gedling Borough Council for permission to build a brick extension at the rear doubling the capacity inside the 45-seater cafe bar which serves coffee and afternoon tea by day and specialises in gin, with 100 varieties, at night.

She said: "We are a small cafe bar. We have a lovely garden at the back which we were able to utilise when we were only allowed to open outside due to Covid. We made it really pretty.

"The covers we have inside are about 45 to 50 at most. With our garden and conservatory it doubled it."

The garden was popular with dog walkers, runners and older members of the community, who Mrs Brewer said felt safer sitting in the fresh air.

"We have always used it since we opened in 2016 but made more of it in the last couple of years because we could only have outside spaces. It gave us extra space to spread people out.

"But it wasn't to be. The council insisted we remove the conservatory and we can't use the garden. We haven't really got a full business without that extra space. It has reduced my team by eight. It has halved the team that used to work there."

Her suggestion of using the garden for afternoon tea until 6pm, and not evening drinks, as a compromise was dismissed.

She hopes to find out in March whether or not permission is granted for the extension, which can't have large windows or patio doors.

"We are just soldiering on while we can. At the moment trade is not back to what it was pre-Covid.

"We are limited with our numbers so we need to increase that trade and to do that we need more space. It is crucial," she said.

Mrs Brewster is optimistic, since a neighbouring business has a similar extension at the back, and ideally she would like to have work completed before the summer.

"We want to expand the kitchen area by going upstairs so I can have more food offerings at night because we don't do that at the moment. We have got to grow the business.

"Myself and the other business owners have said we want to get people up here. There's no banks now, so people aren't necessarily coming for that coffee after going to the bank."

The garden can no longer be used as a smoking area but the council conceded that it can be used for deliveries.

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Cafe bar forced to close tea garden unveils 'crucial' survival plan - Nottinghamshire Live