Ram-backed restaurant opposition

A planned new Derbyshire restaurant co-owned by Derby County footballer Ben Osborn is set to be blocked due to fears of “significant harm” from smells, noise and traffic.

El Camino Bar Ltd is set to see its plan to open a bar and restaurant on the corner of Elm Street and Victoria Avenue in Borrowash, rejected, with Erewash Borough Council planners recommending their refusal.

Councillors will decide at a meeting on Wednesday, June 11th if the plans should go ahead with 24 objection letters from residents lodged against the project.

El Camino, which is Spanish for “the road”, would be run by Harry Steare, from Borrowash, and Ben Osborn, a Derby County midfielder who lives in Quarndon.

The pair already co-own a bar in Borrowash, Lonely Boy, 50 metres down the road from the planned restaurant, which opened in a former hair salon in May 2023.

Both Lonely Boy and El Camino appear to be references to American band The Black Keys, with the Lonely Boy bar having a music theme and focusing on 60s and 70s rock classics, Northern Soul and contemporary indie tracks.

If approved, the restaurant and bar would be housed in a former carpet shop, close to Borrowash Library.

Opposing residents fear noise from people smoking and drinking outside the planned restaurant, disruption from “indiscriminate” parking, claims it is in an inappropriate location out of a town centre and impact on property values.

They claim work has started on the conversion of the former carpet shop into the bar and restaurant.

An objector wrote: “We already experience significant disturbance as a result of the applicant’s other pub in the area and as such we have no confidence that this will be correctly run or managed to ensure residents’ safety and well-being.”

Mr Steare told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I care deeply about our community, not just as a lifelong resident, but also as a local business owner and local councillor.

“My vision for the project is to create a welcoming café/bistro-style restaurant that adds real value to the village—a place where people can enjoy great food, coffee, and company in a relaxed setting.

“I’ll be attending the upcoming committee meeting this week and remain committed to working constructively with the council and local residents to find a solution that benefits everyone.”

Council planners, recommending refusal, wrote: “Such a use would be appropriate in the local centre of Borrowash, where a higher level of commercial disturbance is expected. However, the reasonable expectations of the occupants of this residential area are for a more domestic environment. 

“The unit is surrounded by a close knit grain of residential properties plus a flat above and such a use could not fail but to impact detrimentally on the living conditions of those adjacent neighbours. 

“It is considered that there are fundamental objections to such a use in this area which would result in significant harm to the amenity of immediate and nearby occupiers.”

They said the type of business could cause issues with “smells, noise and disturbance, traffic generation or harm neighbouring amenity” away from the town centre.

Planners said a proposed pizza takeaway in the same shop was rejected in 2007 “due to the potential for noise and disturbance to nearby residents and its location outside the district centre”.

The planned business would be open from 9am until 10pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and from 9am until 4pm Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays – with coffee and cake available from 9am until 4pm.

An application form filled out by the applicants details that seven new jobs would be created through the venue, four full-time and three part-time.

Ben Osborn joined Derby County in June 2024 and has made 26 appearances to date, following a five-year stint at Sheffield United (115 appearances) and six-year stay at Nottingham Forest (212 appearances), scoring 21 goals in total. He has received five international caps for the England U18, U19 and U20 teams.