Cebu_4_2
25th December 2016, 11:07 AM
Cafe Owner Wins Appeal After Neighbor Claimed ‘smell of bacon offends Muslims’
http://www.truthandaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/uk-muslim-bacon-smell-680x365.jpg
After a six month legal battle between a pair of cafe owners and their Muslim neighbor, Graham Web-Lee has been settled in the couple’s favor. The complaint?
The cafe produces a bacon smell that is offensive to Mr. Web-Lee.
Graham Web-Lee complained that the cafe’s extractor fan, which forces out the cooking bacon smell from the cafe, was bothering him and his family, and was bothering his Muslim friends so much that they felt “physically sick.”
After inspectors visited the cafe and declared everything was fine, Web-Lee continued to complain until it was discovered that the cafe owners had never applied for planning permission to install the new extractor fan.
After the decision of the court, Web-Lee remains frustrated, saying his was concerned for his family and that his house stinks of “vile cooking smells.”
An English court declared that the owners of a cafe were allowed to keep cooking bacon, despite the complaints of the neighbor, who made a point to highlight his Muslim religion.
A CAFE owner who was told to remove an extractor fan because the smell of frying bacon offended Muslims was celebrating last night after a six-month legal battle.
Beverley Akciecek and her Turkish Muslim husband Cetin won on appeal to keep the fan.
Taxpayers will have to foot the legal bill after a council cooked up a fuss following complaints by neighbour Graham Webb-Lee.
He said Muslim friends refused to visit him because “they can’t stand the smell of the bacon”.
He claimed the “foul odour” was making them feel “physically sick” but was unable to produce any such friends to back him up.
…
About 18 months ago Lib-Dem-run Stockport Council wrote to the Akcieceks after Mr Webb-Lee complained. Environmental services officers visited the cafe, but ruled there was no nuisance. Mr Webb-Lee continued to complain. The couple were eventually caught out because they had not applied for planning permission to install the new fan. When they applied retrospectively they were turned down by Stockport Area Committee on October 14.They launched the appeal, taking their fight to the Government-run Planning Inspectorate.It finally quashed the order. Beverley said: “It would have cost us a couple of grand to move the fan, which we just didn’t have.Source: Express (http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/237779/Victory-for-cafe-whose-whiff-of-bacon-offended-Muslims)
This is a victory for common-sense business law in England. Forcing a cafe to close for producing smells, as most cafes tend to, would have set a strange and unfair precedent for small-business owners. Mr. Web-Lee continues to complain, but without any other legal avenue for his frustration to manifest, he’ll be forced to cope.
http://www.truthandaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/uk-muslim-bacon-smell-680x365.jpg
After a six month legal battle between a pair of cafe owners and their Muslim neighbor, Graham Web-Lee has been settled in the couple’s favor. The complaint?
The cafe produces a bacon smell that is offensive to Mr. Web-Lee.
Graham Web-Lee complained that the cafe’s extractor fan, which forces out the cooking bacon smell from the cafe, was bothering him and his family, and was bothering his Muslim friends so much that they felt “physically sick.”
After inspectors visited the cafe and declared everything was fine, Web-Lee continued to complain until it was discovered that the cafe owners had never applied for planning permission to install the new extractor fan.
After the decision of the court, Web-Lee remains frustrated, saying his was concerned for his family and that his house stinks of “vile cooking smells.”
An English court declared that the owners of a cafe were allowed to keep cooking bacon, despite the complaints of the neighbor, who made a point to highlight his Muslim religion.
A CAFE owner who was told to remove an extractor fan because the smell of frying bacon offended Muslims was celebrating last night after a six-month legal battle.
Beverley Akciecek and her Turkish Muslim husband Cetin won on appeal to keep the fan.
Taxpayers will have to foot the legal bill after a council cooked up a fuss following complaints by neighbour Graham Webb-Lee.
He said Muslim friends refused to visit him because “they can’t stand the smell of the bacon”.
He claimed the “foul odour” was making them feel “physically sick” but was unable to produce any such friends to back him up.
…
About 18 months ago Lib-Dem-run Stockport Council wrote to the Akcieceks after Mr Webb-Lee complained. Environmental services officers visited the cafe, but ruled there was no nuisance. Mr Webb-Lee continued to complain. The couple were eventually caught out because they had not applied for planning permission to install the new fan. When they applied retrospectively they were turned down by Stockport Area Committee on October 14.They launched the appeal, taking their fight to the Government-run Planning Inspectorate.It finally quashed the order. Beverley said: “It would have cost us a couple of grand to move the fan, which we just didn’t have.Source: Express (http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/237779/Victory-for-cafe-whose-whiff-of-bacon-offended-Muslims)
This is a victory for common-sense business law in England. Forcing a cafe to close for producing smells, as most cafes tend to, would have set a strange and unfair precedent for small-business owners. Mr. Web-Lee continues to complain, but without any other legal avenue for his frustration to manifest, he’ll be forced to cope.