£35,000 pub decking dispute highlights importance of planning approval

The decking dispute at The Keelson

According to The Scotsman’s report of 4 October 2026, the owners of The Keelson, on Leith’s Shore, spent £35,000 installing timber decking before opening in June. However, the council subsequently refused their application for retrospective planning permission.

The newspaper reports that planners considered the decking harmful to the listed building’s appearance and the surrounding conservation area. In addition, neighbours raised concerns about design and accessibility.

Meanwhile, co-founder James Murray told The Scotsman that the owners had taken professional advice and understood the risk of proceeding before approval. He explained that they wanted a safer, flatter outdoor space. At the time of the report, the owners were pursuing an appeal.

Source: Rachel Fergusson, The Scotsman, 4 October 2026. This article does not confirm the appeal’s outcome.

Planning permission: building first carries a risk

First, this project sits in Edinburgh, so Scottish planning law applies. Planning requirements differ across the UK. Consequently, readers should not apply domestic garden decking rules elsewhere to a commercial pub frontage in a Scottish conservation area.

Under Scotland’s planning enforcement framework, councils assess retrospective applications on their planning merits. However, submitting an application after construction does not guarantee approval.

If someone fails to comply with an enforcement notice, the council can undertake the required work and recover costs from the landowner. Nevertheless, that process does not settle whether the owner can recover money from a contractor or adviser.

Where does CDM responsibility sit?

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 apply across Great Britain and govern construction health and safety. However, they do not automatically make a decking contractor responsible for the cost of a planning refusal.

A business commissioning a pub deck acts as a commercial client. As a result, it must make suitable project management arrangements, allow sufficient time and resources, and provide relevant pre-construction information.

In addition, the client must ensure that the contractor or principal contractor prepares a construction phase plan before construction begins.

If the project involves more than one contractor, or the client can reasonably foresee that situation, the commercial client must appoint a principal designer and principal contractor in writing. Importantly, this requirement also covers smaller projects that do not meet HSE’s notification thresholds.

Meanwhile, contractors must make sure the client understands its CDM duties. They must also plan, manage and monitor their work safely.

An installer who prepares or modifies the design may also take on designer duties. These include addressing foreseeable health and safety risks.

Because this project serves a commercial business, the domestic client arrangements that normally transfer CDM client duties to other dutyholders do not apply.

Does the decking installer have to pay for removal?

Not automatically. Installing the deck does not, by itself, establish responsibility for the financial consequences of a planning refusal.

Instead, anyone assessing a potential claim would need to examine the contract, professional appointments, advice, warnings and instructions to proceed. In particular, they would need answers to these questions:

• Who agreed to investigate and obtain the necessary permissions?
• Did the contractor offer installation only, or design and planning services as well?
• Who advised proceeding before approval, and what exactly did they say?
• Did anyone explain and record the risks?
• Who authorised construction, and on what terms?
• What do the planning decision and any enforcement notice actually require?

For example, an assessment would examine whether the contractor agreed to handle planning matters and then failed to fulfil that obligation. Equally, it would consider whether the client instructed construction after receiving clear warnings about the risk.

In this case, the owners’ reported acknowledgment that they understood the risk would provide relevant evidence. Nevertheless, that acknowledgment would not resolve every question about the contractor’s or adviser’s obligations.

Therefore, the publicly reported information does not justify assigning liability to any particular party.

Listed building consent needs its own check

Furthermore, listed building consent requires separate consideration. Historic Environment Scotland advises checking with the planning authority before undertaking work that may affect a listed building’s character.

We have not established whether this installation required separate listed building consent or whether the project team obtained it. Consequently, readers should not draw conclusions about that issue from the planning refusal alone.

The lesson for decking projects

Before construction begins, the project documents should identify the necessary permissions and name the person responsible for obtaining them. They should also establish what must happen before anyone authorises work.

Therefore, record the advice, warnings and decision to proceed. Discuss planning requirements alongside materials, layout, structural design and budget.

Ultimately, an unresolved approval can put the investment at risk, even when the contractor delivers a well-built deck.