Pub mural future in limbo after row over colour

A pub may have to remove its "unique, hand-painted" mural after a row over its size and "stark" blue colour.

The artwork, at the Boat Club, in Durham city centre, shows a toucan balancing a pint on its beak, with Durham Cathedral in the background.

The pub had applied for retrospective permission to display the mural, but owner Howard Eggleston said the team was left shocked after Durham County Council refused the plan over "its excessive size, scale and stark colour".

The Reform-led local authority said it was "unfortunate" the work had been carried out without consulting them and added it would be happy to meet the owners to find a solution.

The building falls within Durham's conservation area, but is not listed.

Mr Eggleston said the mural had cost about £7,000 and took about a week to complete.

"I think it's very unfair, because we put a piece of unique artwork, a one of one, hand-painted piece in the town centre that they should be proud of," he said.

"It took a lot of designing, a lot of time, thought and effort.

"We just didn't expect this whatsoever. We expected them to embrace it."

He added it was "very bizarre" as the the building was "dominated" by the Prince Bishops car park, which also has a blue wall.

"Who's interpreting the colour blue? It doesn't make any sense."

An application for the plans was submitted on 30 September.

The City of Durham Trust had objected, saying the painting was an advertisement "firmly associated with the Guinness brand" and showed "little understanding" of the significance of the building.

"There may be a trend for pubs to paint large toucan murals, but this has no association with Durham or the riverside," it said.

"The introduction of a few local references to the separate retaining wall adds little of value given that the reality of what it depicts sits on the river in front of it."

However, comments in support had said the mural added colour and character and helped "highlight an old building in front of a horrible modern development".

The proposals were turned down at the end of November over "excessive size, scale and stark colour", with planners saying the mural was visually harmful to the area and failed "to preserve or enhance the special character and significance of the Durham City Conservation Area".

Mr Eggleston said tourists from as far as America had been taking photos in front of the wall.

He said the team was now planning what to do next and whether to appeal.

"It just seems such a shame that it has gone to this level of damage to what we're doing," Mr Eggleston said.

"Everyone's really disappointed."

Council planning manager Stephen Reed said the local authority strived to help businesses succeed while also preserving conservation areas.

"It is unfortunate that the work here was undertaken without any prior discussion with us, as we would have been happy to advise on the planning position," he said.

"We are still happy to meet with the owners of the premises to see if we can find a mutually beneficial way forward."

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