Mane Menu: Cowes Pub To Start Serving Hot Food Out Of Converted Horse Box

A pub in the centre of an Isle of Wight seaside town will start serving hot food using a converted horse box in its beer garden.

County Hall gave planning permission to G. Jennings and L. Gulliver to position a trailer in the garden of the Painters Arms on Cross Street, Cowes.

The trailer is being converted to ‘provide an internal food preparation area’ and ‘side servery hatch’ for customers to access, according to the applicants’ agent, Phil Salmon Planning Ltd.

“The pub has not previously been able to serve hot food and these proposals will enable a hot food menu to be provided to customers, served from the beer garden,” the town planning consultancy said.

“The idea for providing a catering trailer stems from the constraints of the pub building itself which cannot be easily extended to provide larger kitchen facilities.

“The trailer is being fitted-out with modern catering surfaces and equipment that is easy to maintain and clean to ensure hygiene standards are met. A solar powered extraction system is being installed.

“This is a viable and cost-effective means of developing the business in the short term.”

Explaining the approval, planners said:

“The structure is partially visible from the surrounding public realm…however it has been painted to match the exterior of the pub itself and appears fairly discreet in its appearance and therefore has minimal adverse visual impact on the surrounding area.

“The proposed catering facility would occupy an area which is already used for outdoor recreational purposes.

“Whilst there are residential properties within the surrounding area, this is a town centre location where a degree of noise and to a certain extent, cooking smells are to be expected, particularly as there are several similar late-night establishments within close proximity to the application site as well as restaurants and takeaways.”