The pub was turned down permission to keep the marquee by Swansea Council but appealed and has now received the ruling from a planning inspector
A pub landlady in Swansea has won a planning appeal to keep a marquee for another three years and said “a shiny new one” would take its place in the spring. Becky Floyd appealed after Swansea Council turned down her application to retain the marquee at The Railway Inn, Killay – a pub the council owns.
Her application to the authority said the marquee, which was put up in 2020 during Covid, had been “pivotal in our survival of the pandemic and beyond” and was regularly used in winter and summer.
Council planning officers said temporary structures like the marquee “offer very little aesthetically” and that while they appreciated the need for additional seating areas they considered there had been ample time for a more permanent solution to have been sought.
The officers’ report said the applicant had advised that a more permanent structure would come at great expense and that they didn’t own the pub, but added: “Notwithstanding this, it does not outweigh the visual harm caused by the marquee and the precedent it could set for other public houses to erect similar structures on their premises in the foreseeable future.” Never miss a Swansea story by signing up to our newsletter here
Mrs Floyd appealed the refusal, saying the marquee enabled the pub to regularly hire musicians to play in it and was also used by non-patrons such as walking groups.
“The marquee is essential to the viability of this long-standing community asset and its temporary retention should be granted,” said her appeal statement.
“Given that the pub is council-owned, it is in the public interest to support a successful, self-sustaining business rather than risk losing a community facility.”
More than 90 people supported her appeal, and a Welsh Government-appointed planning inspector has now upheld it, concluding that the marquee didn’t appear visually intrusive or out of place and had a minimal effect on the popular shared-use path running alongside. Regarding the setting of precedent, the inspector said “it would be rare for the circumstances of any other development to be exactly the same”.
A message posted on The Railway Inn’s Facebook page said the pub was very pleased with the outcome and thanked everyone who’d written in on its behalf about the marquee, adding, “we’ll be getting a shiny new one in the spring”.
The pub dates from 1864 and was real ale campaign group Swansea Camra’s pub of the year in 2025.
The campaign group described it as “a bastion of real ale in Swansea with a strong following of devoted locals, as well as fans who visit from far and wide to sample the pub’s quirky charms”.
People enjoying a drink at the pub on December 19 were chuffed with the appeal decision.
Julie Davies said: “The marquee’s great for music in the summer and autumn. It’s brilliant for the pub, and I love being outdoors.” A man sitting outside said of the marquee: “All the regulars enjoy it.”
