The Grand Banquet Suite, Ravensthorpe
The Grand Banqueting Suite on Huddersfield Road currently offers parking for up to 900 guests.
But now, following the pandemic, the venue says large weddings have been scaled back as families want fewer guests with a “more luxurious experience.”
The Grand Banqueting Suite emerged from the former Ravensthorpe Working Men’s Club and a building application was submitted in October 2016.
Approval was denied by the Council’s Heavy Woolen Planning Subcommittee in May 2017. At the time, there had been complaints about traffic problems caused by a large number of cars arriving at the venue on the already congested A644.
Convoys of rented supercars were often seen driving up and down Huddersfield Road.
A request to extend the opening hours after 4 p.m. was rejected by the city council and in April 2017 an appeal by the owners was also rejected.
No formal decision on the building application was made until August 2021, when documents uploaded to the council’s planning portal showed that permission had been given to open the venue until 11 p.m., an apparent U-turn by the council.
As part of the permit, the venue’s owner Ashiq Hussain signed a legal agreement – known as Section 106 – to provide land further down Huddersfield Road for overflow parking.
However, Mr. Hussain has now filed a motion to remove the condition required by the Section 106 agreement because circumstances have changed.
A letter from Acumen Designers and Architects stated that at the time of the original application, weddings with hundreds of guests were in demand.
But now the letter says: “Since the application was submitted, the market for Asian weddings has changed with the desire for fewer guests, but with an improved experience.
“The coronavirus pandemic has further changed the market as customers want fewer people at weddings, but an improved and more luxurious experience with longer stays for guests.”
The letter says weddings this year and next show bookings of 250-400 people.
Since there are parking spaces for 99 cars and a total of 132 parking spaces – some cars block others – this is sufficient for 450 guests, based on one parking space for every five guests, and the separate parking lot is not required.
