Harborne restaurant in council row

Dec 29 2009 by Richard McComb, Birmingham Mail

A MICHELIN-star chef has threatened to sue Birmingham City Council for compensation after workmen turned the street outside his restaurant into a “bombsite”.

Tree-planting works in Harborne High Street could have cost Turners restaurant up to £4,000 in lost festive trade, according to chef patron Richard Turner.

The council said the scheme would “improve the vibrancy of the retail offer” in Harborne but admitted work had been delayed by “technical issues”.

Mr Turner criticised the authority for starting the project during December, traditionally the busiest month of the year for restaurants and shops.

A large hoarding and barriers had been erected in front of his restaurant and neighbouring shops while the improvements were being carried out.

The hoardings, which remained after the work was suspended, were draped in a green mesh.

Mr Turner said: “It looks like Santa’s grotto. The difference is there is no Father Christmas sitting inside it.”

The council said the work had been halted and the contractors would return in January, prompting the chef to ask why the entire scheme could not have been carried out early next year, avoiding December altogether.

Turners won a Michelin star for its cuisine earlier this year. But Mr Turner said guests had complained about the noise of hammering, drilling and bricks being cut in half just a few feet from their tables.

Mr Turner said: “We are in the middle of a recession. The first thing people stop doing in a recession is getting their hair cut and going to restaurants. I’m a restaurant and there’s a hairdressers next door.”

He said he was given virtually no notice about the start of the work earlier this month and he supported moves to boost trade in the high street by making the environment more attractive.

But he added: “Don’t try to improve the high street and decimate all the businesses here. It’s been madness to do this work at the busiest time of the year.”

A Birmingham City council spokesman said tree planting work had been finished and “street furniture” would be upgraded in the new year.

He said construction work was suspended before Christmas “in readiness for the influx of shoppers”.

The spokesman added: “There has been a slight delay due to technical issues and the wet weather, but once complete, the project’s long-term benefits will outweigh recent issues.”