Revised renovation plans, including a roof top garden, have been submitted for a landmark York pub.

JD Wetherspoon seeks to spend £1.9m on the Punch Bowl on Blossom Street.

Similar plans were refused by City of York Council in 2019 and an appeal was upheld on the grounds of harm to the building and the noise the scheme might generate.

Their latest application is to demolish existing single storey extensions to the Grade II-listed building and built a single and two-storey extension at the back.

The extensions were built in the 1970s, with the pub dating from 1835.

A rooftop garden served by a lift would be created, customer toilets would be relocated to the first floor and the internal customer areas would be refurbished.

Planning documents say the changes would provide a ‘much needed’ response to customer demands and use the ‘largely vacant’ first and second floors.

Staffing would increase by 15 part-time staff, as numbers rose from 25.5 to 33 ftes.

The £1.9m scheme, they said, aim to “ensure the future of the building and its attractiveness.”

The interior would be more open plan and done to a ‘very high ‘fit out’ specification’ costing £1.6m.

Other works would include repairs and improvements to existing features to highlight their historical significance.

The application said: “Luxury, comfortable, efficient facilities will be provided. Through the use of sympathetic design and the latest technology our clients strive to provide the customer with a satisfying and memorable visit to their premises.”

The proposed development is ‘substantially the same’ to those refused, but it would improve the operational efficiency of the pub’s food offer with a bigger kitchen. A lift would serve the rooftop garden.

The pub would maintain its current 8am to midnight Sunday to Thursday trading,  8am to 1am on Fridays and Saturdays, but the roof terrace would close at 11pm.

Changes to previous plans would include a new kitchen extractor replacement flue being largely encased in brickwork and free-standing planters would be positioned on a proposed first-floor external customer terrace.

The application concluded the proposed development has negligible visible changes due to the presence of other buildings, an external first-floor terrace would create no more noise than is generated now and any conflict with neighbours from the rooftop terrace noise would be dealt with by management procedures.

The conclusion added: “The Proposed Development will result in tangible public benefits as part of the sustainable use of a listed building and in supporting the growth of an established public house with associated environmental, economic and social benefits to the listed building, local community and business operation – these being considered to outweigh the very limited harm to heritage assets by the Inspector in their consideration of the Previous Appeals.”