A COUPLE who set up a cafe on some land between two houses have had a second planning application rejected, but have vowed to continue running the business and appeal the decision.

Ray Clark, and his wife Beverley, were told by councillors at the beginning of January to pull down the cafe at 193 Eastern Esplanade after it was built without planning permission.

The couple had been serving hot drinks and snacks from the wooden shack, that was on land between houses owned by a family.

The couple have a licence from the family to use it for their wooden shack.

After councillors voted in favour of enforcement action at the site, Mr Clark submitted a second planning application for the “erection of a kiosk and change of use to cafe with outdoor seating”.

The planning application has now been rejected, leaving Mr Clark, 57, disappointed but determined to continue his fight.

He said: “The council planning department decision was very disappointing as again the support we have from the surrounding community has been ignored.

“We’ve had a positive impact on the area.

“I would like to thank the scores of residents that contacted the council on our behalf and the hundreds that have signed our petition.

Back in June 2021, there first planning application was rejected because of “significant harm” the makeshift business had caused to neighbours in terms of noise and intrusion.

The second application was rejected for a variety of reasons, according to council documents.

The decision noticed stated the rejection was due to: “its siting, character and design is an inappropriate use of residential garden space, and which integrates poorly with the existing townscape. This is harmful to the character and appearance of the site and wider area.”

However, Ray Clark added him, and Beverley will be appealing the decision to reject their planning application and will continue to keep trading in the meantime.

He said: “We will be appealing the decision and hope we receive fair and reasonable consideration from the government inspectors.”

“However, we will also be staying open still, and we will be trading until we cannot trade anymore and that to me is a long way from now.”