Seaside Bistro Lease Update Agreed

A new lease with a rent increase to £12,000 for a wine/bar bistro at a north Pembrokeshire seaside village that was once part of a complex at the heart of the county’s slate industry has been backed by the national park.

The rental increase follows recently-granted works at the Grade-II-listed The Shed Wine Bar & Bistro, Porthgain, including a covered outside seating area, and an upgraded wind break.

At the July meeting of Pembrokeshire Coast National Park members backed a recommendation to give delegated authority to the Park’s chief executive to finalise and document a supplemental lease with the tenants following the approved works, and to regularise ongoing use of the external seating area within the terms of a lease, along with an increase in the passing rent from £7,500 to £12,000 a year.

A report for members stated: “The subject property known as ‘The Lean-To, Ty Mawr’ forms part of the authority’s wider freehold estate within Porthgain and trades as ‘The Shed Bistro’. The authority’s landlord and tenant relationship with its owner/ operator dates back to the early 2000s and has seen ‘The Shed Bistro’ evolve from a ‘new start-up’, to what is now a mature and successful hospitality business and a significant contributor to the local economy.”

A proposal by the tenants for a permanent roof structure, at their own expense, was backed by Park planners in May, the report said; the use of the new facility to be included in the amended lease “with a corresponding increase in their passing rent from £7,500 up to £12,000pa”.

“In all other respects the terms of their existing lease will remain unaltered, so it is proposed that the changes outlined above are regularised by documenting a supplemental lease,” the report said.

It concluded: “Whilst the existing external seating area meets a basic functional need, the proposal outlined above would materially improve its appearance and functional versatility.

“By definition, the external seating area occupies a prominent location within the village. Whilst we have no currently identified operational use for that same area of land it should be recognised that by moving away from a licence model to its inclusion within a lease, we would be surrendering a significant degree of management control.”

Documentation for the earlier planning application said the building may have served as part of the Porthgain Granite Slab and Brick Company, founded in 1893 and liquidated in 1895.

A supporting statement added: “Historically, the value of the building is more significant as, irrespective of its original purpose, Ty Mawr is obviously at the heart of the Pembrokeshire slate industry which thrived during the 19th century industrial boom and which Porthgain was an important element.

“The subsequent dereliction of the building in the 20th century and its (partial) re-use in its current form are clearly reflective of the changing fortunes of the north Pembrokeshire rural economy tending from industrial undertakings to modern tourism.”