A wealthy businessman has been ordered to tear down his Indian gastropub after it was built just a stone’s throw from Shakespeare’s wife’s childhood home.
Rakesh Singh, 57, has lost his battle over The Cask N Tandoor, which sits just 188m (618ft) from Anne Hathaway‘s Cottage in the village of Shottery, Warwickshire.
The Bard, born just a few miles down the road, in the town of Stratford-upon Avon, would have visited her family’s 15th-century thatched property.
Now a museum, managed by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, the hallowed site would have borne witness to the early part of the pair’s relationship.
Mr Singh’s eatery, part of the Burnside Hotel, was built without proper planning permission last March.
The trust complained it was intruding on their land, which sits along with the pub and restaurant in a protected Conservation Area.
And locals living in the charming West Midlands village, where house prices average at £500,000, also warned the development had destroyed wildlife.
The mogul has now been given six months to demolish his pub and restaurant along with its 114-square metre decking.
A wealthy businessman has been ordered to tear down his Indian gastropub (pictured) after it was built just a stone’s throw from Shakespeare’s wife’s childhood home
Rakesh Singh (pictured), 57, has lost his battle over The Cask N Tandoor, which sits just 188m (618ft) from Anne Hathaway’s Cottage in the village of Shottery, Warwickshire
The Bard, born just a few miles down the road, in the town of Stratford-upon Avon, would have visited her family’s 15th-century thatched property (pictured)
It comes after Stratford District Council rejected his application for retrospective planning permission last month.
The ruling said the brookside gastropub failed to ‘enhance the character’ of the nearby historic buildings.
Mr Singh, who is listed as director of the 24-room, four-star hotel the eatery is attached to, originally had alternative plans for the site approved.
He had proposed to replace a timber shed with two extra en-suite bedrooms and a plant room.
But he ran into trouble with planners when he doubled the size of the development – and threw in a gastropub and large outdoor wooden terrace for punters.
The council has now issued the businessman with an enforcement notice, ordering him to get rid of the pub, patio, seating area and a gabion wall structure.
The order was served on August 12 and will take effect on September 23 unless he appeals.
It reads: ‘In the absence of a planning permission with conditions to control the use of the pub building and associated outdoor seating area, it is considered that there is the potential for there to be a detrimental impact on the residential amenity of nearby residential properties through noise and disturbance.’
Mr Singh’s eatery, part of the Burnside Hotel (pictured, with the gastropub in the background), was built nearby without proper planning permission last March
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, which manages Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, complained the gastropub (pictured) was intruding on their land, which sits alongside it in a protected Conservation Area
The notice also cites the ‘overdevelopment of the site’ and ‘the erosion of an important open area that contributes to the landscape and character of Shottery’.
The council’s intervention comes after Mr Singh spoke out defiantly earlier this year amid the furore, vowing the pub would remain standing.
The father-of-two and ex-Indian army cavalry officer, who is the son of an army major, made it clear to the Daily Mail through a colleague in January he has ‘done nothing wrong’.
Hotel manager Minty Manhas, speaking from the cosy lounge of the adjoining £265-a-night lodge, said the row had been ‘blown out of all proportion’.
She emphasised: ‘My boss Mr Singh has no intention of demolishing the pub, why would he?
‘We have Indian chefs working there and all British people want to have a curry. We serve Tandoori Indian food and pub classics, what is not to like?’
She also suggested why the controversy might have been triggered: ‘Brown skin and black skin may not sit well in this very white, middle-class village.
‘I wouldn’t like to say racism definitely plays a part in this planning dispute but some people may hate Mr Singh because of his success.
Mr Singh, who is listed as director of the 24-room, four-star hotel the eatery is attached to, originally had alternative plans (pictured) for the site approved
The father-of-two and ex-cavalry officer (pictured when he was in the Indian army), who is the son of an army major, made it clear to the Daily Mail through a colleague in January he has ‘done nothing wrong’
The mogul has now been given six months to demolish his pub and restaurant (pictured) along with its 114-square metre decking
‘He owns the lovely stone cottage next door to the hotel and restaurant, which is a holiday let, and he owns a lot of the properties on the street, Church Lane.
‘Some locals are ever moaning that the street could soon be re-named Singh Lane because of all the houses he owns.
‘Maybe it is jealousy that one individual has done so well but he deserves it, and he works eight days a week.’
Ms Manhas added: ‘That is what we are up against.
‘Mr Singh has done nothing nothing wrong and any matter that is controversial with the Trust, the neighbours, the council is being addressed.’
She also hit out at the Trust for ‘trying to cash in’ on her boss: ‘They want more and more money from him.’
Inviting the Daily Mail into the gastropub and hotel, which advertised on a board outside, ‘Curry Night, three courses £24.95’, the manager explained there had been a mix-up over planning rules.
But she said at the time it was being sorted out after controversy erupted when the council said the pub failed to ‘enhance the character’ of the affluent village.
Hotel manager Minty Manhas, speaking from the cosy lounge of the adjoining £265-a-night lodge, said earlier this year the row had been ‘blown out of all proportion’. Pictured: The bar at the Cask N Tandoor
She emphasised: ‘My boss Mr Singh has no intention of demolishing the pub, why would he?’. Pictured: The interior of the Cask N Tandoor
The publicity, she said, had actually been a welcoming boost: ‘More locals have come to have a look, they’ve had a meal and they’ve loved it.’
Hardworking Mr Singh, a devoted, married family man, was enjoying some rare festive time off when Ms Manhas spoke to the Daily Mail.
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust previously stated Mr Singh’s retrospective planning application, submitted last August, ‘does not respect the character of the conservation area’.
It added it was ‘yet another attempt’ by the owner, who has applied multiple times to change buildings in the hotel grounds, to ‘overdevelop’ the site.
Locals have also rallied against the development, which they say has destroyed wildlife in the pretty village’s brook.
The have also said it is causing a light and noise nuisance, with ‘football matches blaring’ late at night.
Some residents accused the boss of ‘brazen disregard of planning laws and a casual disrespect for wildlife’.
But Ms Manhas, proudly showing the Daily Mail around the pub earlier this year, said: ‘He had bought the very derelict property locals used to call the “haunted house”, because it was so grim and invisible, for more than £1million in 2016.
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust previously stated Mr Singh’s retrospective planning application, submitted last August, ‘does not respect the character of the conservation area’. Pictured: Anne Hathaway’s Cottage
‘Earlier this year, he wanted to turn the rundown garages into two extra rooms for guests and then a pub-restaurant to cater for our demands.
She revealed: ‘The biggest players against us are the Trust. We have 25 rooms at our hotel, with 50 plus guests at times, and we have a very small bar.
‘Guests encouraged us to have another space to eat and drink so we heard them and developed a bar.
‘The majority of locals are with us, some are against us, but we have addressed any issues and claims of damage to the brook during development.’
Ms Manhas said her boss would ‘refuse to knock the new pub down’ and in ‘the worst case scenario’ would turn it back into the two approved bedrooms.
She said Mr Singh had ‘more and more properties and was expanding which the Trust does not like’.
She continued: ‘We are among the top three hotels in the Stratford area and we are the only family-owned one, not in a chain.
‘If people opposing us don’t like brown faces, make sure the authorities close down everyone, each business and Indian restaurant in the very English Shottery area.’
Locals had mixed reactions to the controversial pub when speaking to the Daily Mail earlier this year. Carer Gill Davies (pictured) said: ‘Without sounding racist, I feel this this new place is in the wrong place and out of keeping’
Resident Eddie Schofield (pictured), boss of a soft furnishings business, said: ‘I would be very surprised if he would knock it down and why should he? What wrong is he doing?’
Locals had mixed reactions to the controversial pub when speaking to the Daily Mail earlier this year.
Carer Gill Davies said: ‘Without sounding racist, I feel this this new place is in the wrong place and out of keeping.
‘It is a very close-knit village with the Shakespeare story and the The Bells pub at its heart.
‘We should be supporting them, who have been around for ages, and not a new Indian pub up the road.’
Bob Sage, from nearby Stratford and running past the pub, said: ‘I really don’t know if it is in the right place, I think not, but I am divided.
‘It is building up a conservation area but if permission is granted I’d back it because it if a nee pub serving different food.’
Resident Eddie Schofield, boss of a soft furnishings business, said: ‘I would be very surprised if he would knock it down and why should he? What wrong is he doing?
‘Concerns raised about the brook being damaged and the pub being too garish are bit of a problem to some but not all. I’m a businessman and good luck to him.’
The pub’s website reads: ‘Cask N Tandoor beckons you to embark on a gastronomic journey where tradition meets innovation’. Pictured: The Cask N Tandoor
‘Our Indian Gastro Pub, blessed with a scenic view of the woodland and the soothing murmur of a nearby brook, is more than just a pub’, it continues. Pictured: The Cask N Tandoor menu
The pub’s website reads: ‘Cask N Tandoor beckons you to embark on a gastronomic journey where tradition meets innovation.
‘Our Indian Gastro Pub, blessed with a scenic view of the woodland and the soothing murmur of a nearby brook, is more than just a pub – it’s an immersive experience that harmoniously blends the flavours of India with the classic charm of an English bar.’
Anne Hathaway was born at the nearby cottage, which was her family’s home for 13 generations, in 1556.
She married Shakespeare, then 18, in 1582, when she was 26 and pregnant with their first child Susanna, who was born six months later.
They went on to have twins Judith and Hamnet a few years later. They remained married until the Bard’s death.
A spokesperson for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust said in January: ‘The works have overdeveloped the site in contravention of local planning policy, the existing restrictive covenant and does not respect the amenity of the surrounding properties, including Anne Hathaway’s Cottage.’
Stansgate Planning, working on behalf of Mr Singh, said at the same time: ‘We are currently reviewing the reasons for refusal and all the consultation comments with a view to either submitting another planning application or appealing against the decision.’
Burnside Hotel, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and Stratford District Council have been contacted for comment.
