Plans to open a micropub in Starbeck are back on the table.

IT consultant Kevin Jones has resubmitted the proposal for the High Street after previous plans fell through.

Mr Jones abandoned a prior attempt to get permission to open a pub at 67d High Street after the landlord offered the space to a different tenant.

At the time, he criticised Harrogate Borough Council for taking six months to consider the plan.

However, Mr Jones has now resubmitted the plan for next door at 67b High Street — which he intends to rename The Office Ale House.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“I wanted to open a place where people who are wandering home after work can call in.

“It will be dog friendly as well. It is about getting pubs back to what they used to be years ago.”

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Mr Jones, who lived in Starbeck but has moved to Knaresborough, said he hoped to open the pub in March, if planning is approved.

The pub would included seating for between 15 to 20 people.

It would serve local ales, lagers and have a rotating cask ale on sale. It would be open between 12pm and 8pm during the week.

Harrogate Borough Council will make a decision on the plan at a later date.

A new micropub selling craft beer is coming to Boroughbridge after a premises licence was granted for the venue.

Borough Tap will open at the former Horticouture florist on Horsefair but with reduced alcohol serving hours after some residents raised concerns over “rowdy” late-night behaviour from customers.

The application from landlord Paul McCusker was for the micropub to serve alcohol between 9am and 1am Monday to Sunday, however, this was reduced to 11am until 10pm on the same days by Harrogate Borough Council’s sub-licensing committee.

Mr McCusker told the committee he did not intend to open the micropub during all permissible hours and that it would be a “quiet and friendly” venue.

He added:

“Borougbridge’s population has expanded and there is a lack of amenities in the area. There is a gap in the market for a micropub specialising in craft and cask ales.
“I’m not going for the rowdy crowd. It’s going to be catering for middle-aged people having a relaxed conversion over a pint.
“Not loud music or raucous events.”

Paul McCusker, soon to be landlord of the Borough Tap

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The licence was granted with conditions which mean no open alcoholic drinks can be taken out of the venue. All windows and doors will also have to be kept closed during opening hours to reduce the noise impact on neighbours.

A total of six residents raised objections to the application.

An objection was also received from North Yorkshire Police but this was withdrawn after the alcohol serving hours were reduced.

A man in Boroughbridge has said he has spotted a gap in the market for a micropub that sells high-quality local cask ales.

Paul McCusker, who has run several pubs in West Yorkshire and currently works behind the bar at another pub in Boroughbridge, wants to convert a former hardware shop on Horsefair into a micropub called the Borough Tap.

He hopes he can be pulling pints there by Christmas.

Mr McCusker said that whilst there were places like the Grantham Arms known for excellent food, the town lacked a specialist alehouse that could tap into an expanding population.

He said he wants the pub to showcase the many local breweries on Boroughbridge’s doorstep, including Roosters, Bad Co and Turning Point.

“There’s no other pub that will do this and there’s a gap in the market.

“There’s so much local produce that can be showcased.”

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Mr McCusker is yet to receive planning permission for the pub but next week Harrogate Borough Council’s licensing sub-committee will decide whether to grant the venue an alcohol licence.

He said if all goes to plan, he wants to grab “the bull by the horns” and open it before the end of the year.

He said his goal was to get the Borough Tap House into CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide.

Mr McCusker added:

“I’ve run pubs that have got in the Good Beer Guide. It’s hard to get to that standard but it’s like The Bible and people look to it for guidance, although word of mouth is still the best recommendation.

“I want people to say they had a cracking hour in my pub.”

The owners of a new bar arriving at Knaresborough’s train station next month say the project has become a “labour of love”.

Jason White and Phil Paling of Gorilla Brothers Ltd already own a brewery and bar near Doncaster that focuses on craft ales.

The Track & Sleeper will open on platform two by the last week of May, serving a selection of real ales, ciders and gins.

Its two large rooms allow for plenty of seating, 20 outside and 70 inside.

The owners have made the most of the generous space and installed a large bar, made out of sleepers, to hold 12 pumps. They are hoping to use four of these for guest ales from local breweries.

Mr White said:

“We want to be part of the bar scene in Knaresborough and hopefully people will buy into it. It’s been a labour of love for us.

“We have fallen in love with the town and who’s to say we wouldn’t open another bar locally.”

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It has taken the men more than a year to get to this point after originally submitting their business plan to Northern in January 2020 and only getting into the building to start renovations three weeks ago.

The Grade II listed station dates back to Victorian times. The Track & Sleeper’s design is said to be in keeping with its history by using period colours and maintaining some original features.

Mr White added:

“We’re trying to go along the lines of how things would have looked 100 years ago.”

Two pubs in Little Ouseburn and Great Ouseburn will be converted into housing.

Harrogate Borough Council has approved plans to turn the former Green Tree pub in Little Ouseburn into housing.

Owners Michael and Barbara Briggs applied last year to turn the pub into two one-bedroom apartments and one three-bedroom semi-detached home.

Another two three-bedroom detached homes will be built in the rear car park.

The pub, which is on the main B6265 from Green Hammerton to Boroughbridge, closed in late 2019.

A statement attached to the planning application highlighted the pub’s plight in recent years:

“Local interest in using the pub has dwindled and was patronised by only a handful of regular customers. Takings were only sufficient to sustain Mrs Briggs and keep the doors open.”

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The Crown Inn pub in Great Ouseburn

Meanwhile, the council has also approved a plan to turn The Crown Inn pub in Great Ouseburn into a five-bedroom home.

The pub won the Yorkshire Pub of the Year title in 2011 but has been vacant for several years, closing in June 2016.

Despite new developments and growing populations, village pubs have found it difficult to survive. Numerous establishments in the Harrogate district have been affected.

The Lamb and Flag pub in Burton Leonard could now be turned into commercial or retail space. Plans were also submitted to convert the Half Moon in Sharow into a new home.

Drinkers in Starbeck could soon be spoilt for choice with the opening of a new micropub called The Office Ale House.

IT consultant Kevin Jones, who has had experience running pubs in the past, said he hopes to get the venue on 67d High Street up and running by May, subject to planning permission and covid rules.

It would be another addition to Starbeck’s high street after plans were unveiled last week for a bar at the former Greenalls carpet shop at the high street’s junction with Spa Lane.

Kevin told the Stray Ferret that The Office Ale House will be in the vein of smaller hostelries such as Blind Jack’s in Knaresborough which specialises in cask ale, bottled craft beer, and the best from local breweries.

He said:

“I believe Starbeck needs it and covid has made us all desperate for human interaction.”

Kevin Jones.

Kevin says he is confident that Starbeck is big enough for the two new venues, and thinks covid has highlighted how important pubs are for local communities.

He added:

“I’m not worried about covid. I think it’s shown us we have to get out and socialise. I want somewhere where people can get off the train, have a couple of pints and a chat.”

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If approved by Harrogate Borough Council, the pub will be open seven days a week from 12pm to 9pm. It will also be dog friendly.

Starbeck is currently served by one pub, the Prince of Wales, plus two clubs.

The Henry Peacock closed in 2012 and has now been demolished and replaced with retail units.

A developer can now move ahead with plans for a micropub at Knaresborough’s train station.

Harrogate Borough Council has approved the plans for the Track and Sleeper with a few conditions and alterations, including that work must start before September 2023.

The Track and Sleeper will take over a couple of vacant units at the Grade II listed building. It will serve real ale and gin.

Both the Knaresborough Civic Society and the Friends of Knaresborough Station wrote in support of the plans. The council also said the plans were sympathetic to the building.

These are the new plans including planters.

The community groups raised concerns about a lack of toilets and a “potential nuisance” from the pub’s customers. The landlord will need to monitor those concerns going forward.

Instead of the timber barriers previously submitted, the amended plans inclued moveable planters with barriers in between.

The council believes that because the pub is bringing vacant units back into use that it will be beneficial for the building. It also supported the plans to reinstate the fireplace inside the pub.

A new micropub could soon open at Knaresborough’s train station to serve up real ale and gin.

The Track and Sleeper would take over a couple of vacant units at the station if the plans submitted to Harrogate Borough Council are approved.

Housed in a Grade II listed building dating back to 1865, there will be much interest in any redevelopment plans. The council document describes the alterations for the micropub as “sympathetic to both the external and internal aspects of the building”.

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This is what it could look like, according to plans submitted with the application

Knaresborough Civic Society wrote in support of the plans but raised concerns about drinking and smoking on the platform. It also requested that the pub restores the existing fireplace and uses it as an open fire, something the society said was more in keeping with the building.

The deadline for comments on the application is August 12. Find the plans on the Harrogate Borough Council website.