Fresh plan submitted to convert part of Kirkby Malzeard pub into housing

A fresh planning application to convert part of a vacant Kirkby Malzeard pub has been submitted.

The Henry Jenkins Inn, near Ripon, has been at the centre of a long-standing battle between residents and developers over the years.

Now, developer Justin Claybourn, who already owns the eastern annexe of the site, wants to convert redundant outbuildings at the site into a holiday cottage.

The application, which was submitted in August by Jennifer Hubbard Town Planning Consultant, outlines the details of the proposed house – including one bedroom and one bathroom, and an open-plan kitchen and dining area.

Mr Claybourn also hopes to reduce the existing ten car parking spaces down to four, as well developing a garden and patio around the building.

Access to the building would be from Main Street via an existing pedestrian and vehicular access across land already owned by Mr Claybourn, it adds.

In a cover letter, the agent said the applicant and his family have “long standing connections with the area”.

A decision has not been made about the application yet, but it has proved unpopular with local residents.

One resident commented on the application:

“This application appears to be one of a series of planning applications by the owner in an attempt to split up the original pub property and obtain residential planning permission by steadily reducing any chance that the original pub, can be bought & run successfully.

“The village needs affordable housing rather than a holiday cottage for someone already living elsewhere.

“It is difficult enough for young people to rent & work in the village as it is; they hardly have a chance at buying properties.”

The proposed plans.

The Henry Jenkins Inn opened in the 1700s and closed in 2011.

The current owner David Fielder bought it the following year.

It was first listed by Harrogate Borough Council as an asset of community value in 2017 as requested by local residents. However, in 2018 the listing on the eastern annexe was removed by the council, when it was sold to Mr Claybourn. 

Community grant

The objections to the application follow a £330,000 grant awarded to villagers campaigning to the save the former public house.

Levelling Up Minister, Jacob Young, announced the resident-controlled company, Henry Jenkins Community Pub (HJCP), was successful in its application to receive the Community Ownership Fund in September.

Campaigners hope to buy and refurbish the building and transform it into a community-owned pub, bistro, and coffee shop.

However, the grant is understood to be dependent on a 20% match funding and will only be given to the HJCP providing they come up with £66,000.

The group has already made six purchase offers to Mr Fielder – all of which he has rejected.

In September, however, he told the Stray Ferret he would be “happy to sell for the right price”.

Mr Fielder bought his first pub in 1987 and now owns 18 across North and West Yorkshire.

His broad property portfolio also includes industrial estates, farms, residential properties and student lets.

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Campaigners toast £330,000 grant to relaunch village pub

Villagers campaigning to save an old inn have been awarded a £330,000 government grant to help them buy and refurbish it as a community-owned pub, bistro and coffee shop. 

Levelling Up Minister Jacob Young  announced the Community Ownership Fund grant this week for the Henry Jenkins Inn at Kirkby Malzeard, near Ripon, which has been the subject of a long battle by local residents to save it from redevelopment. 

The application for the funding was submitted by Andy Taylor, treasurer of Henry Jenkins Community Pub Ltd (HJCP), the resident-controlled company trying to buy the pub. He said:  

“We burned the midnight oil to get our Community Ownership Fund application in shape and I’m enormously proud that we’ve been selected for grant approval. 

“There is a lot to do, including raising the funds pledged by our membership, but this vote of confidence from the government will get some real impetus behind the campaign to restore the Henry Jenkins as a much-loved community asset in the village.” 

The £330,000 grant is understood to be dependent on 20% match funding, meaning that HJCP needs to come up with £66,000 in order to access it. 

The chair of HJCP, Richard Sadler, said:  

“We’re delighted that the minister and the Community Ownership Fund team have recognised that we’ve put forward a realistic and properly costed business plan for the purchase and refurbishment of this important local asset. Together with more than £200,000 worth of pledged community shares from local people, this puts us in a strong position to do something exceptional. 

“We’re convinced that the revival of this historic building as a community-owned facility can make a huge difference to our village by creating an exciting new social space, bringing people together and helping to kick-start the regeneration of the local economy.” 

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The Henry Jenkins opened in the 1700s but closed in 2011 and was bought by current owner David Fielder the following year. At the instigation of local residents, it was first listed by Harrogate Borough Council as an asset of community value in 2017. However, in 2018 the listing on the eastern annexe was removed by the council, when it was sold to Mr Fielder’s business associate, Justin Claybourn. 

Since then, the owners and campaigners have been at loggerheads, with Mr Fielder rejecting six purchase offers from the HJCP group and refusing permission for a site survey. Mr Claybourn once even told HJCP that he would not sell to them “at any time or any price”. 

Happy to sell

But Mr Fielder told the Stray Ferret today he’d be willing to sell the pub immediately, for the right price. He said: 

“I’d be happy to sell. It’s up to them to call in the pledges, and then we’ll sell – for either £250,000 for the pub or £500,000 for the whole site including the house next door. 

“It’s stood empty since 2012, so it’d be nice to see it put to proper use.” 

Mr Sadler would not be drawn on how much HJCP would be willing to pay, but said: 

“We remain open to discussions with Mr Fielder, but we won’t entertain the idea of buying at above market price, and we insist on being able to have a survey and structural assessment carried out before negotiations begin, so that we can calculate exactly what the refurbishment costs would be. 

“The owner has allowed the pub to fall into a dilapidated state, he’s stripped out the interior, the roof has started to fall in, and the beer garden is completely overgrown. Through our local ward councillor, we have begun preliminary discussions with North Yorkshire Council over a proposed compulsory purchase order to break the deadlock and secure the Henry Jenkins for future generations. 

“We would like to make clear that we still regard compulsory purchase as a last resort. We are always open to discussions with the owner over purchase of the site but we will only pay a fair market price and so would need his permission for a proper valuation and structural survey.” 

The Mechanics Institute in Kirkby Malzeard

 

The Queen’s Head is also in the village.

Mr Fielder, who lives near Selby, bought his first pub in 1987 and has since amassed a broad property portfolio, which includes 18 pubs across North and West Yorkshire, industrial estates, farms, residential properties and student lets. 

Despite being prepared to sell the Henry Jenkins, he said he feared what impact its refurbishment might have on other local businesses. He said: 

“God knows what effect it’ll have on the Queens Head and the Mechanics’ Institute. There’s no way a village like Kirkby Malzeard can sustain three licensed premises plus an off-licence. That’s a fact, and I’ll be proved right. 

“There’s a lot of people struggling at the moment, so I think they might have difficulties collecting all the pledges. But that’s their problem, not mine. 

“If they can come up with the money, that’d be fantastic, but if they can’t then there’s no story, I’m afraid.”

The Henry Jenkins is named after a Yorkshire supercentenarian from Ellerton-on-Swale – 20 miles north of Kirkby Malzeard – who was said to have been 169 years old when he died in 1670.

Bid to convert Kirkby Malzeard pub at centre of long-running campaign

The acrimonious tug of war over the now-derelict former Henry Jenkins Inn in Kirkby Malzeard, has entered a new phase.

David Fielder, who owns the western portion of the building, has submitted a planning application to Harrogate Borough Council to convert it into a single dwelling.

The application, which will be considered by council planners later this year, was considered last night by Kirkby Malzeard, Laverton and Dallowgill Parish Council, which decided to adopt a neutral stance, by neither objecting to, nor supporting the proposal.

Mr Fielder, who attended the meeting, told the Stray Ferret:

“I’m happy with that decision, as it shows that the parish is not opposing the application and I hope that we can move on from here.

“Planning permission is already in place for the eastern annex of the building to be converted to residential use by my business associate Justin Claybourn and I believe it would make sense for HBC to approve my similar application and hopefully bring this saga to an end.”

One of Harrogate district’s oldest pubs

The Henry Jenkins, which is named after a man that legend states lived to be 169-years-old, is one of the oldest inns in the Harrogate district. It closed in 2011.

In 2017 the Henry Jenkins Community Pub group successfully obtained an Asset of Community Value listing for the building.

However, in 2018, the listing on the eastern annex was removed by the council, when the property was sold to Mr Claybourn.

Since then, the campaign group has made three unsuccessful attempts to have the listing reinstated on the eastern portion of the building — which it said was crucial to its plans to reopen the Henry Jenkins as a community facility comprising a pub, bistro and coffee shop.

HJCP chair Richard Sadler said:

“Harrogate Borough Council quite rightly has rigorous policies to protect and enhance community facilities ‘unless it can be clearly demonstrated … there is no reasonable prospect of the existing use continuing on a viable basis with all options for continuance having been reasonably explored’.

“Well in this case there is every chance the Henry Jenkins Inn can be revived and refurbished as a community-owned pub and restaurant. More than 170 villagers have banded together and raised more than £230,000 in pledges and shares and we should now be in a strong position to qualify for another £230,000 in government match funding.”

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Case for re-opening ‘stronger than ever’

Mr Sadler added that the case for regenerating the 250-year-old Henry Jenkins was stronger now than ever, with the pandemic leading to increased awareness of the importance of places for people to meet up and socialise.

“Here in Kirkby Malzeard, as elsewhere, we have more people working from home, many more new houses are planned and there’s an urgent need for a broader range of facilities.

“A revitalised Henry Jenkins would boost the local economy – providing jobs, encouraging people to go out more in the village and attracting more visitors to the area.

“We already have one pub – the Queen’s Head – but this is one of the largest villages in the area and all the evidence suggests there is room for a different type of pub serving a different clientele.

“We trust that our elected representatives will do the right thing by sticking to their policies and putting the long-term interests of the wider community above those of a private developer looking to make a quick profit.”

New twist in bitter fight over derelict Kirkby Malzeard pub

The acrimonious struggle over the former Henry Jenkins Inn in Kirkby Malzeard has taken a new twist.

Last week campaigners handed a 500-plus name petition to Harrogate Borough Council calling for part of the closed-down and derelict premises to be re-listed as an asset of community value (ACV).

But now Justin Claybourn has taken the property off the market and informed the Henry Jenkins Community Pub campaign group (HJCP) he will not sell to them ‘at any time or any price’.

Mr Claybourn, whose successful planning appeal in December 2020 gives him permission to create a single dwelling in the part of the building that he owns, is now going to press ahead with plans to convert it to residential use and create a family holiday home.

Campaigners to save the Henry Jenkins pub in Kirkby Malzeard, who were in Harrogate yesterday.

Campaigners collecting names for their petition in Harrogate.

His business associate and agent David Fielder, who owns the pub group Fielder Holdings, told the Stray Ferret:

“Since 2018 Mr Claybourn has owned the old joiner’s shop, previously known as the eastern annex of the Henry Jenkins.

“The pub closed more than 10 years ago and Mr Claybourn has become increasingly annoyed with the campaign group’s actions, in particular their third attempt to have his property listed as an ACV even after his successful planning appeal.

“He directly holds HJCP responsible for the cost of defending the three ACV applications but further in his opinion the cost of his planning appeal. These costs exceed £25,000.”

Mr Fielder added:

“Over the past 10 years, nobody, including HJCP, has made a bid meeting the criteria that the property was on offer for — i.e. backed by hard cash, not pledges.

“With this in mind, following the latest move by HJCP, my client asked me to formally instruct them that his property has been removed from sale and will not return to the market.

“I was also instructed to advise them that due to their actions and costs they have made Mr Claybourn incur he would never consider a sale of his property at any time or at any price to HJCP.”

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Richard Sadler, press spokesman for the Henry Jenkins Community Pub group, said:

“This statement comes as no surprise to us and changes nothing:  The only reason the Henry Jenkins has stood empty for the last 10 years is that Mr Fielder — and latterly his associate Mr Claybourn — have refused to sell it to anyone.

“We have submitted to the council statements from three prospective private buyers who wanted to buy and refurbish it as a pub and restaurant — including a Michelin two-star trained chef —  but they were told either that the asking price had been vastly inflated or that the pub had been sold.

“The Henry Jenkins Community Pub group has since made five offers to buy the pub at or above the price set by an independent valuer – but all these offers have been refused.”

“Despite this – and despite previous statements by Mr Fielder saying he would never sell the pub to us – we remain open and willing to discuss terms for a purchase of the Henry Jenkins as a community facility.”