The owner of a Fenland pub who wants to demolish it and replace it with five houses has been warned he has failed to demonstrate it is no longer financially viable. Fenland District Council planning committee will be recommended to refuse the application by publican Tim Fletcher for the Three Horseshoes at Turves near Whittlesey.
His application will come before the committee on September 18 to meet a statutory deadline facing the council to determine it.
Planning officers agree that Mr Fletcher has produced some evidence regarding the financial viability of the pub and its active marketing as a going concern, necessary when related to the loss of a community facility.
“However, this evidence fails to adequately demonstrate that the pub is no longer financially viable, and is silent on the matter regarding community need,” says the report.
“In addition, The Three Horseshoes has recently been designated by the council as an Asset of Community Value (ACV), owing to the fact that the pub is one of a very limited number of facilities available within Turves.
“An independent residents’ group have made significant progress in pursuing their right to bid for the pub under the ACV process.
“Accordingly, this designation and progress forms a material consideration of significant weight in favour of retaining the pub for the community, which is not outweighed by the benefit of the provision of market dwellings as proposed.”
“Evidence submitted by the applicant suggests that the pub has been actively marketed, with no viable buyer found during the marketing period.
“However, on the basis of the evidence submitted it is considered that the pub remains a financially viable prospect.
“Furthermore, no evidence has been put forward by the applicant to demonstrate that there is a lack of community need for the premises, a matter which is countered by the clear community involvement in attempting to secure its retention through the ACV process.
The report also says evidence submitted with the application “has failed to fully demonstrate that there are no sequentially preferable sites that could accommodate the quantum or scale of development proposed under the terms of the current scheme”.
That also means it has failed the sequential test, another council policy.
Whittlesey Town Council is also recommending refusal until additional marketing has been carried out.
The council says it has received 58 letters of objection, 23 from addresses within Turves, 11 from within Whittlesey and Coates and 9 from with March, including Manea and Wimblington.
However, the report says the application has received 31 letters of support, 15 from addresses within Turves, including the applicant, 8 from within Whittlesey, including Coates and Eastrea, and others include one from an address in Barnsley.
Planners will tell the committee that they understand the Turves and District Residents Association (TDRA) has made “significant progress in pursuing their right to bid for the pub, with their intention to retain it as a community facility for the village”.
Their progress so far has included:
- The successful application for ACV.
- A successful grant application for primary funding.
- An independent survey and valuation of the pub; and
- An open community meeting with survey conducted on what community facility residents wish to see for the space going forward.
“As such, it is evident that TDRA have legitimate interest in progressing a bid for the pub and are seeking to make this a true community facility for residents of Turves,” says the report.
“Thus, the ACV status of the pub and the progress made on the attempts of TDRA to retain this building as a community facility is a material planning consideration that should be given significant weight and establishes that there is an apparent need for the community facility to be retained.
“It could therefore be reasonably argued that it would be premature to conclude that there is no community need for this facility”
The report also says that according to the recent Survey of Fenland Settlements Existing Services and Facilities that was undertaken to inform the Emerging Local Plan, “it is understood that the village of Turves has only three designated community facilities, including, a mobile library, a non-food store, and the pub, to serve around 400 residents (population estimated mid 2018).
“The population is therefore dependent upon larger surrounding settlements for wider services and community facilities.
“Given this limited number of existing facilities, the loss of the pub as a community facility would have a significant detrimental impact on the offerings within the village, and potentially the wellbeing of its residents”.
