A RURAL hotel has revealed plans for a ‘wedding garden’ due to the increasing popularity of outdoor ceremonies.

Red Hall, a 37-room hotel on Manchester Road, Ramsbottom, wishes to develop a patch of green belt land near its car park into a ceremony and celebration area after he pandemic and subsequent long close downs had a ‘devastating effect’ on the wedding side of its business.

Documents were submitted last week in support of a planning application for the change of use of open land to form a wedding garden with pergola and storage hut.

A design and access statement from the hotel’s owners set out their proposals.

It said: “The property is a well-established, successful restaurant and hotel and well known wedding venue.

“It is within the green belt area of the borough, and has a large car park area with direct access on to Manchester Road.

“The hotel changed ownership in 2019, and the new owners continued to expand and improve the wedding side of the business for which the Red Hall Hotel is well known.

“The Covid 19 pandemic outbreak in 2020, forced the hotel to close down.

The pandemic and subsequent long close down has had a devastating effect on the wedding side of the business, all bookings had to be cancelled or postponed to a later date.

“Since the hotel re-opened only small weddings were allowed due to separation distances and the following of government guide lines.

“Recently, a number of people are asking for the weddings to be conducted outdoors, this would allow guests that are still not happy meeting indoors to attend the wedding ceremony.

“In order to provide an outdoor safer wedding venue for a larger wedding the hotel requires a wedding garden in which to conduct the ceremony and allow for larger wedding functions to take place in the open air.”

The document added that the management of the hotel believed the construction and formation of a wedding garden was paramount

to returning back into the new normal in respect of the wedding side of the business and allowing the staff back into regular work.

They said: “In our opinion this application would meet the requirements of very special circumstances in the green belt to allow the construction of a wedding garden in place of the extended car park that was approved on the same area of land.”

The proposed garden would be formed with grass areas, stone flag areas and planting with clean stone chippings, rolled and compacted to

provide pathways.

The application will now be considered by planners at Bury Council.