Usk pub given go-ahead to extend outdoor area

An Usk pub has been granted planning permission to extend an outdoor seating area, which is “essential to the business due to Covid restrictions”.

The Cross Keys on Bridge Street will be allowed to extend the outdoor seating area at the pub and put in a decked area, after Monmouthshire County Council gave the go-ahead.

The decking area is part of the pub’s car park and is “rough gravel and gets very wet”.

A report on the application’s approval says: “The outside area is essential to the business due to COVID restrictions on social distancing and the prevention of people meeting indoors.”

Despite the pub being a Grade II listed building, the heritage officer had “no objection in relation to the impact of the decking upon the conservation area or the setting of the main building”.

The decking will not be visible from the main road.

The hours of use of the area will be controlled by the licence conditions of the pub’s landlord.