'You did it!': Leeds restaurateur says Ilkley restaurant will stay after planning dispute resolution
‘We will never ever be able to thank you sufficiently for all of your support, in all of its forms, but we CAN tell you that it worked!’
A Leeds restaurateur who previously said he would close his Ilkley restaurant has said the venue will stay in the spa town.
Earlier this month, chef Matt Healy announced that a planning dispute with Bradford City Council had prompted his decision to close his restaurant, Forde, located at The Moors shopping centre in Ilkley.
In a statement on Facebook, Healy and his team claimed that Bradford Council, the building’s landlord, ordered the removal of changes made to an atrium seating area.
The restaurant said the decision was a major blow to its plans to survive and grow, while reassuring customers it would remain at the site until late next year.
Responding to the claims, Councillor Ian Eglin, Bradford Council’s executive member for Corporate Resources, said the authority is keen to support businesses in making their ventures successful, but that Forde had undertaken alterations which were not within the terms of its lease.
However, in an unexpected turn of events, Healy announced on Thursday evening that a resolution has been found.
“We gave up trying. After doing everything we knew how to resolve the situation with the atrium seating, we ran out of options,” the restaurant posted on Facebook.
The restaurant said it had made the “hard decision” to close after exhausting its options, and expected customers to be angry and disappointed.
Instead, it said thousands of people had rallied around the business, offering technical and legal advice, visiting the restaurant, contacting MPs and attracting attention from the press and radio.
The statement continued: “We will never ever be able to thank you sufficiently for all of your support, in all of its forms, but we CAN tell you that it worked!”
“YOU DID IT!!!!!!!
“You shouted so loud for us that the Council heard us!!!
“We have been allowed to keep the seating area!
“We have to pay some more money to be allowed to keep it there, but providing it’s affordable, we have permission to keep it - just as it is!
“No words will ever be big enough. No thanks can ever reach far enough. So instead we’re going to do what we do best and get you tipsy.
“As a very small gesture of thanks, we’d like to invite you all to come and enjoy the atrium seating and have a glass of something delicious on us. At any point in September please feel free to walk in and demand your thanks-ini. This will be the first of many thank you’s!
“It will take us years to repay you all as there were SO many of you doing such ENORMOUS things! But providing the cost of the atrium seating isn’t too high, we will now be STAYING PUT and will keep trying as long as we’re still standing!
“Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
“We love you all”