Pelican pub’s pergola permit plea

A planning inspector will decide whether a Wiltshire pub can keep its pergola, after Wiltshire Council refused planning permission.

In October 2025, Punch Pubs asked Wiltshire Council for permission to retain a temporary structure, which had been erected at The Pelican Inn at Froxfield, on the A4 between Marlborough and Hungerford, in April 2021.

The timber structure with corrugated sheet roof had been erected over an existing customer terrace, planners were told.

Froxfield Parish Council offered no comment on the plan, but Wiltshire Council’s conservation officer objected on the grounds of the harm it would cause to the setting and original external form of the Grade II listed pub.

“The wrap-around nature, the awkwardness and prominent nature of the side element fail to meet the requirements of conservation legislation, policy or guidance,” they said.

“The structure is considered alien in the context of an 18th-century inn.”

The planning application was refused, but this week the Planning Inspectorate said an appeal had been lodged.

The appeal will be decided by way of written statements.

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