One of London’s most popular celebrity nightspots will be allowed to open a Parisian-style pavement café despite dozens of complaints from neighbours.
Westminster council approved plans for Chiltern Firehouse in Marylebone to host an outside seating area at a meeting this week.
The Grade II-listed venue was granted permission to put out 10 tables and 20 chairs, half the number it had originally requested. The committee said the plan would be reviewed after 12 months. The new café area’s operating hours were also scaled back from 11pm to 8pm and nine “environmentally-damaging” outdoor heaters were removed from the application.
The application attracted 88 objections and 128 letters in support, but councillors said they had received a barrage of emails against the plans in the hours before the planning meeting.
Committee chairman James Spencer said: “I really do empathise with residents because by all accounts the Firehouse has not been a good neighbour... But I struggle to see any policy which we could use to refuse this application that wouldn’t be overturned on appeal.” The plans were passed two votes to one.
In recent months the hotel hosted Princess Beatrice’s engagement party and Brit Awards events.
