Pub demolition and conversion approved

A village pub in Fylde is to be partially demolished to make way for new homes – with the remainder of the building being converted into a community shop.

The Derby Arms in Treales shut its doors for the final time in early 2020, shortly before the onset of the pandemic.

Plans to flatten the rear of the hostelry and create a retail unit in the front of the premises – at the junction of Kirkham Road and Church Road – were approved by Fylde Council’s planning committee in June last year.

However, that permission came with a series of stipulations that had to be agreed before the decision of the councillors on the committee was confirmed.

Twelve months later, a deal has now been reached with the applicant behind the proposal – Derby Arms Developments Ltd. – meaning work on the project can get under way.

When the committee considered the scheme a year ago, members were advised by the authority’s planning officers to give the green light to the redevelopment of what is a Grade II-listed building. They were told that the pub had “not traded successfully” for several prior to its closure and that there had been “no interest” shown in reopening it.

Members also heard that while the six new homes proposed for the plot were at odds with local planning policy relating to development in the countryside, the applicant had demonstrated that the dwellings were necessary in order to help cover the significant “anticipated costs involved in the….re-purposing of the pub”.

The building – originally a farmhouse – is split into two elements: an early 18th-century section, which is to be retained as the new shop, and an early 19th-century extension, which most recently operated as the pub’s dining area, and will now be dismantled. A separate outbuilding will also be pulled down.

In a report presented to the committee last year, council planning chiefs concluded that the demolition would cause “less than substantial harm” to the significance of the listed heritage asset – and that this would, in any case, be outweighed by the “public benefits” of the scheme These were said to include securing a “a viable ongoing use” for the older part of the building and providing two flats above the new shop that would likely be “more affordable” than most properties in the area.

Planning officers described the rear portion of the building as having “unsympathetic” and modern additions, as well as a “clunky connection” to the front aspect, which was deemed to “reduce its heritage value”. Nevertheless the council’s own heritage advisers were opposed to the demolition plans and considered that the rear element could have been “preserved” and converted.

While councillors ultimately agreed to approve the proposal, they insisted that the applicant formally commit to the shop trading for at least three years once in operation, with a minimum number of opening hours and days. Those have now been set at 9am to 4pm on weekdays and 10am until 2pm on Saturdays.

The shop – which may also include a cafe – must also operate for at least 50 weeks a year and not function as a seasonal facility.

In a response to a demand from the committee for efforts to be made to ensure the new housing contributed to the “rural character” of the area, the applicant has also agreed to a white painted brick finish for the properties – to match that of the pub – rather than the red brick originally proposed.

The dwellings will comprise three four-bed detached houses, two three-bed semis and a three-bedroomed dormer bungalow.

Both planning permission and listed building consent have now been granted for the scheme.