Restaurant outdoor seating plan for Hornsey Town Hall Square

Community groups have objected that the structure might impede crucial public access and look out of place.

Fatto a Mano is a pizza restaurant with locations in Brighton and London. It will open at the former Pera Kitchen site at 26 The Broadway, which falls within the Crouch End Conservation Area and looks onto the square.

In April, the restaurant submitted a planning application for an outdoor metal frame with a retractable white fabric canopy over seating, 3.35m deep. Public consultation closed last week.

Liz Sich, chair of the Hornsey Town Hall Trust, which has been working for 20 years to secure the future of the town hall, fears the structure will look out of place.

"What the trust has always advocated for is a holistic design solution to the whole square so that everything is appropriate. It will be a hugely important public space. What we don't want is this piecemeal approach from different food operators around the square," Liz said.

"It's a very long structure and will dominate that side of the square and impede access to the grass area. They should come up with a solution that can be removed when [the restaurant is] not open."

Mark Afford, chair of the Crouch End Neighbourhood Forum, said: "I wouldn't say we were in outright opposition to the pergola structure, but we do have concerns about how it relates to the square as a whole - it is listed."

Fatto a Mano was contacted for comment.

Crouch End's Hornsey Town Hall Square site is undergoing a major £27 million overhaul, with 146 homes being built, as well as an arts centre and a hotel.

It is backed by the Far East Consortium and will preserve the Art Deco, grade II-listed structure that was previously on the Buildings At Risk register.

A FEC spokesperson said: "FEC is delighted to see the continued progress of the redevelopment of the town hall square and looks forward to welcoming the community back to the space very soon."