A DETERMINED businessman is continuing his battle to keep his popular restaurant open after being repeatedly denied permission to carry on running it.

The Rose Garden restaurant, in Aldermans Hill, Hockley, has been operating without proper planning permission since 2007.

Built on green belt land, it only has permission to be a shop or refreshment room to serve customers for Hockley Golf Driving Range.

Owner Terry Harrold has already had two planning applications knocked back by Rochford District Council to retrospectively change the use of the property to become a restaurant.

Two appeals heard by Government inspectors have also been dismissed, the latest just last month.

But, undeterred, Mr Harrold, has just submitted another application to the council which he hopes will finally get the green light.

Neighbours have complained about the restaurant operating unlawfully and of being disturbed by the noise and lights from customers’ cars.

But several hundred customers signed a petition, which has been handed to the council, expressing their support for the Rose Garden, which employs 12 staff.

Planning inspector Frances Mahoney stated in her decision last month: “I find the restaurant use does not amount to inappropriate development in the Green Belt”.

But she did conclude “the appeal proposal would unacceptably harm the living conditions of neighbouring residents in respect of noise and disturbance” and dismissed it.

Mr Harrold said the latest application goes some way to addressing the concerns of neighbours.

He said: “The inspector said the restaurant was acceptable on green belt. But they said the problem was the impact on neighbours because the number of customers was too great.

“And they said the car park was too near the houses.

“So we’ve done another fresh application addressing those problems.”

Mr Harrold said they would reduce the number of seats in the restaurant, currently 52, by a third and change the opening hours so it coincided with the driving range hours from 9am to 9pm.

He also said they would move the car park further away from the houses and screen it with trees.

He added: “We will see what the council says with that.

“Hopefully this time we will have addressed all the problems.”