Pub conversion refused

A pub has been refused permission to convert into a house, and its owners have been urged by planners to re-open and diversify to keep it viable.

The Longville Arms, in Longville in the Dale, is thought date from the 18th or 19th century, but it closed in 2016 after making losses and has since been put up for sale but not attracted a buyer.

Shropshire Council’s South Planning Committee turned down Longville Arms Ltd’s change-of-use application, and a planning officers’ report said the company’s losses “do not, in itself, demonstrate the pub cannot still operate by developing a wider market appeal”.

The three-storey building stands on the north side of the B4371. The village, roughly equidistant between Church Stretton and Much Wenlock, has a population of “approximately 160”, the report said.

The pub was bought by Enterprise Inns Group Plc in 2008. They sold it to Longville Arms Ltd in 2011 “for 50 per cent less than the amount they purchased it for”, planners noted. The pub re-opened in 2012 but closed again in December 2016.

Rushbury Parish Council “strongly objected” to the proposal to change it to residential use, saying the pub was a “thriving community hub whilst in the hands of previous landlords”. Since its closure, the parish council and other organisations have had to find alternative meeting places.

Statements provided by Longville Arms Ltd to the planning department showed “a trading loss each year, despite the employment of a professional pubic house manager and chefs”, and upgrades and refurbishment worth £70,000, the report said. The pub was marketed for £395,000, or £495,000 with two nearby buildings included, but failed to sell.

The planners’ report said: “The proposal would result in the permanent loss of a local community facility to the detriment of the social and economic vitality and quality of life of the community.

“Whilst it is acknowledged that the applicant made a trading loss in all of the years it operated the Longville Arms, and this may be indicative of the fact that it, like many rural pubs, is not likely to be viably maintained solely on reliant on the trade of the small local population, this does not in itself demonstrate it cannot still operate by developing a wider market appeal.

“There has been no attempt to demonstrate why this would not work.”