Save Our Golden
Lion public house from the Developers
Hugo’s personal
thoughts on CWaC application No 16/03176/FUL
The Golden Lion
sits in the centre of Ashton Hayes and was extremely popular with locals and visitors
for many years; the pub won numerous national awards including the much coveted
“Greenhalls Pub of The Year” for a number of years running. Sadly the pub has
been closed for a number of years now having been bought by a developer.
However the community has held a long term aspiration that it will be able to
purchase the property and reopen it as a community pub. This aspiration is
clearly evidenced through the Golden Lion having been registered as an ‘Asset
of Community Value’ some years ago by the residents of Ashton Hayes.
The current owner,
Mr John Miller a local property developer, has submitted a second planning
application on the property. The first one (Ref No 12/04887/FUL) proposing two
houses to built on the car park of the GL failed to reach approval stage, now
we as a community, are having to fight another application for two houses,
again on the car park, plus the conversion
of the pub itself in to three residential dwellings (Ref. No: 16/03176/FUL).
Our community hub, the geographical and the strategic heart of our village is
potentially going to be stripped from us and all future members of this
exceptional community, forever.
So, if people who
feel strongly about this proposal and who will be affected by the proposal, wish
to engage in the formal consultation process, as part of this current planning
application and its associated consultation, what can they do?
You can comment directly
on line at http://pa.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=OAPJNCTE0I800
You will need to
register and ‘log in’ in order to make any comments here. If you have any problems
in completing this you could contact the Planning Officer allocated to determine
this application directly at her email address Lyndsay.Shinner@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk
please do try the on line method first.
Also please note the closing date for comments on this application which is the
13th of Sep 2016. You can also contact the CWaC Ward Cllr for the
Ashton Hayes, Cllr Eleanor Johnson at eleanor.johnson@cheshirewetsandchester.gov.uk
It is very easy for all of us to become subjective and to get
emotionally involved when commenting on such important planning applications.
But a word of warning, only comments which are considered to be Material to the
Application can be considered by the Planning Officers. By way of what I hope
is useful guidance I have listed below some examples of what might and what
might not be considered as Material Considerations, this is not an exhaustive
list.
Material
considerations are many and are extraordinarily varied. They include all the
fundamental factors involved in land-use planning, such as:
• The number, size, layout, siting, density, design and
external appearance of buildings,
• The proposed means of access,
• Landscaping,
• Impact on the neighbourhood (including loss of amenity)
and the availability of infrastructure.
Examples of factors
that ‘may’ be taken into account as material considerations in the decision
making process include:-
• Planning history of the site • Overshadowing • Overlooking
and loss of privacy • Adequate parking and servicing • Overbearing nature of
proposal • Loss of trees • Loss of ecological habitats • Archaeology • Loss of
a facility of value to the community • Contamination by a previous use • Effect
on Listed Building(s), Green Belt & Conservation Areas • Access and
highways safety • Traffic generation • Noise and disturbance from the scheme •
Disturbance from smells • Public visual amenity • Flood risk • Planning gain
Examples of factors
that ‘cannot normally’ be considered as material planning considerations are:-
• Loss of value to an individual property • Loss of a
private individual’s view • Boundary disputes, including encroachment of
foundations or gutters • Private covenants or agreements • The applicant’s
personal conduct or history • The applicant’s motives • Potential profit for
the applicant or from the application • Private rights to light • Private
rights of way • Damage to property • Loss of trade to individual competitors •
Age, health, status, background and work patterns of the objector • Time taken
to do the work • Building and structural techniques • Matters covered by other
statute • Alcohol or gaming licence
In this case it is likely that the Planning Officers decision
will focus quite heavily on the potential future commercial viability of this important
community asset, the village pub, in particular whether or not the market has
been tested sufficiently to demonstrate that the building & business is no
longer viable in its current guise. There has been a similar refusal of an application
and the subsequent appeal that was also refused, earlier this year on the outskirts
of Chester, and I would encourage you to read it here before making any
comments on this current application at the Golden Lion. You can access the report
via the link below:
If you have any problem accessing the link, a Google search
of the complete Case Ref No below should also take you to the Inspectors
report.
|
APP/A0665/W/15/3139409
|
As previously
mentioned, The Golden Lion pub is now registered with CWaC as an asset of
community value (ACV) under the Localism Act of 2011. If the property were to
be put up for sale, the community would have 6 months to raise funds in order to
bid for the pub. During that time the pub cannot legally be sold to another
purchaser. There are currently 31 community owned pubs and over 100
others that have been registered as ACVs. Examples are The Raven in
Llanarmon Yn Ial, Mold, The Butchers Arms in Crosby, Ravensworth, the George
& Dragon in Hudswell, Yorkshire, The Bevendean in Brighton and The Ivy
House in London. The longest established, the Red Lion in Hertfordshire,
has been going for 30 years!
The current owner
has closed the pub and allowed it to begin to fall in to disrepair, the more cynical
amongst you may think this is to lessen its value as going concern should this
value ever be tested on the open market. The key point here is that it has not
been tested. If it had been, the community would have course attempted to raise
the funds required to bid for it and run it as a Community Asset.
This important
point to one side, let’s also take a look at what specific planning policies
may be relevant to this case and you may want to consider when deciding on your
comments to put forward.
Retained Policy CU1
of the Chester District Local Plan supports the retention of buildings which
make an important contribution to the cultural, social, economic and street
life of the (former) District.
The National Planning Policy Framework requires Councils to
plan positively for the provision and use of community facilities (including public houses) to enhance the
sustainability of communities and residential environments, and guard against
the unnecessary loss of valued facilities, particularly where this would reduce
the community's ability to meet its day-to-day needs.
Policy ECON2 of the
CWAC Local Plan (Part 1) reflects these
requirements.
Overall, the policy tests’ broadly’ translate to:
1. Whether the proposal would result in the loss of a
facility of value to the community;
2. Whether the site is capable of having a continued viable
use as a public house;
3. Whether there is a need for the type of residential
accommodation proposed; and
4. Whether the proposal would provide a building of
equivalent value.
The above is taken from the relatively recent application,
15/04757/FUL – referred to above and relating to the Centurion public house in
Vicars Cross which was refused and an appeal dismissed.
You may not have access yourself to the internet, or may know
someone who does not, but would like to comment on the application under
discussion here. You can of course write directly to the Planning Dept quoting the
planning Ref. No: 16/03176/FUL at the following address: Planning Department, Cheshire West and
Chester Borough Council, 4 Civic Way, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH65 0BE. Again
please be aware of the deadline for submitting comments which is 13th
of Sep 2016.
Please feel free to forward this personal
Blog on to anyone you think might be interested, either in hard copy or
electronically.
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