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10
Mar
Boost for campaigners after inspector rejects Kirkby Malzeard pub conversion plan
Campaigners to save a pub in Kirkby Malzeard have received a boost after a government inspector rejected plans to convert part of the pub into a holiday cottage.
Justin Claybourn, who owns part of the Henry Jenkins pub, appealed against a North Yorkshire Council’s decision to refuse planning permission for the scheme.
However, a government inspector rejected the challenge in a move which will boost hopes for pub campaigners aiming to save the inn.
Mr Claybourn, who co-owns the site with David Fielder, appealed a decision to refuse plans to convert a building next to the former pub site into a holiday let.
But, Henry Jenkins Community Pub Group claimed the application was designed to shatter their hopes of ever reopening the former pub, which dates back to the 18th century but has been closed since 2011.
How the Henry Jenkins used to look.
The group has hopes of taking over the pub as a community-owned venue and has been locked in a bitter battle with Mr Fielder over the building’s future for several years.
In a decision notice, Michelle Clowes, a government planning inspector, said the development would “prejudice the ability of the Henry Jenkins Inn to operate viably as a public house”.
She added:
As that threshold is not met, it is unnecessary to consider alternative community uses in detail. For completeness, I note that the evidence indicates no substantiated interest from other groups beyond the HJCP, although this is inevitably constrained by the absence of marketing information.
This does not however, displace the need for clear and robust evidence that the existing community use has no reasonable prospect of continuing.
Following the decision, Richard Sadler, chair of the Henry Jenkins Community Pub group, said:
This decision gives a huge boost to our campaign to save this much missed pub which used to be the beating heart of our village – but which has been allowed to fall into a disgraceful state by the current owner.
The social value of local pubs in rural areas is increasingly being recognised and stand taken by the Inspector's underlines the importance of planning policies put in place to stop us losing facilities like this that are so vital to local communities.
The pub group has so far raised £148,000 in deposits from local supporters towards the cost of purchase and refurbishment of the Henry Jenkins as a community-owned pub, bistro and coffee shop.
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