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19
Jan 2021
Campaign to reopen Henry Jenkins Inn suffers hammer blow
The campaign to reopen the derelict Henry Jenkins Inn in Kirkby Malzeard as a community pub has been dealt a hammer blow.
The Planning inspectorate, a government agency that deals with planning appeals, has overturned Harrogate Borough Council’s decision to refuse planning permission for conversion of the eastern part of the site into a single dwelling.
The Henry Jenkins Community Pub Ltd sought to prevent redevelopment of the site by having the building registered as an asset of community value.
HJCPL’s 190 members raised £236,000 in pledges, with the intention of purchasing the whole Henry Jenkins site and refurbishing it.
The group was confident the council's decision would be upheld – but Helen Hockenhull, of the Planning Inspectorate, was not persuaded by their argument.
Nine years after the last pint was pulled in the Henry Jenkins, she concluded:
In making her decision, Ms Hockenhull took into account that Kirkby Malzeard has an existing pub – The Queen’s Head – and also the fact that the Mechanics Institute, across the road from the appeal site, is licensed to sell alcohol.
The campaigners also had to overcome the hurdle that the western portion of the site, belonging to Fielder Holdings, remains available for sale or let.
The inspectorate accepted that allowing the application, made by developer Justin Claybourn, to convert the eastern annex into a dwelling, would be a disappointment, but concluded:
The appeal decision has been welcomed by David Fielder, who bought the shut-down Henry Jenkins from receivership in 2012 and subsequently sold the eastern portion of the building to Mr Claybourn.
Mr Fielder, whose company David Fielder Inns owns and operates 16 pubs, mainly in Yorkshire and Hambleton, told the Stray Ferret:
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HJCPL has no right of appeal against the inspector’s decision.
Its chairman, David Robinson, said:
The western portion of the Henry Jenkins Inn is still available for sale or let.
HJCP’s management team must now decide whether making Mr Fielder an offer for his part of the site would enable it to create a viable community facility.
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