Thursday, February 12, 2009

A warming tale

Many licensees will have breathed a sign of relief at the news that a planning inspector had reversed a decision by Brighton & Hove Council to ban the Heart & Hand pub from having patio heaters on its outdoor terrace. It is interesting that the inspector said that he could see no more efficient way of heating the terrace, thus implicitly accepting that it was reasonable for the pub to want to do so, and agreed that without the heating the pub would lose trade.

Presumably the local council zealots would not accept that it was legitimate as it was done for the benefit of smokers, who in their eyes are outcasts unworthy of any consideration. Of course heating the open air isn’t the most efficient use of energy, but if they’re concerned about reducing CO2 emissions then it would make sense to let the smokers use a properly insulated room inside the pub. Oh, hang on, two aspects of political correctness seem to be in direct conflict there.

And apparently running a patio heater for two hours puts out about as much CO2 as driving a car for 7.6 miles, so the contribution it makes to overall emissions is in any case minuscule.

Brighton & Hove Council’s general love of banning is dealt with more fully by Dick Puddlecote here.