A dispute over whether to allow customers to drink outside a pub could finally be settled by a panel.
Alan Jarvis, landlord of the Stumble Inn, Hinchliffe Mill, has been locked in a dispute with Holme Valley councillors over plans to open an improvised beer garden in his car park.
The pub, formerly The Shepherds Rest, lost its licence and closed in 2010 following complaints of noise and antisocial behaviour.
But, despite some neighbours’ and councillors’ objections, the venue reopened in March 2012 with the condition that all drinking must take place indoors.
The pub’s current owner, Mood Developments, of Leeds, has twice applied to Kirklees Council to allow outdoor drinking to resume.
The first application was rejected last year, but the second will go before a council licensing panel on August 20.
Councillors have also refused to grant temporary licenses for drinking in the pub car park.
Mr Jarvis says there has been no trouble at the Stumble Inn since the pub reopened and feels he has been unfairly treated.
He said: “I have a signed letter from all my neighbours living adjacent to the pub saying that they would welcome a seating area and have no objections whatsoever.
“I am not asking for preferential treatment, only to be afforded the same rights as every other pub who I have to compete with in these hard times.
“We don’t have trouble. We don’t make a noise nuisance. I’ve been a landlord for 20 years and I’ve never had any trouble.
“This is costing me a fortune.”
Holme Valley South councillor Nigel Patrick said he did not want to comment until the hearing.
But Clr Patrick said the reasons for councillors’ objections would be disclosed at the meeting on August 20.
