New proposal for former Lambourn pub finds favour

The application involves a change of use for the parts of the old inn - formerly the bar and lounge areas - to private, residential use. The proposals include extending the rear of the building - previously the kitchen and lavatories - while the first floor would be refurbished.
The ‘cottage element’ of number 44, Newbury Street, attached to the west end of the main building - number 46 - would also be refurbished and altered as part of the proposals. Private garden areas and allocated car parking also form part of the application, which involves creating three new homes on the historic site.
Previous planning applications have met with fierce local opposition. In 2010, some local residens launched a failed bid to have the building listed.
The latest application, on behalf of owners Dulwich Finance Ltd, “seeks to make a more efficient use of this established building, such that a modest increase in the number of sustainable dwellings within the village can be achieved.”
In addition, the character of the area could be improved, the applicants claim, by turning the large car park area at the rear into domestic gardens.
The application concludes: “The proposal will retain and enhance the character of the street scene, with the introduction of a defined public footpath and variety of texture associated with the small garden areas.”
One local resident who has taken a keen interest in the future of the site, Peter Snook, has sent a letter to planning chiefs stating he was “delighted to see sensible planning on this historical site”.
He added: “Hopefully the whole building will be reinstated with most of the original features and tidy up this part of Lambourn village, and hopefully the reinstated building will be named to keep the historical facts of the old Tadpole Mill.”
Lambourn Parish Council believes the new application “retains the character of the area.”
In 1851 miller William Painter was living at the current number 44, then known as Tadpole Mill.
The Lamb itself is believed to have originally hosted a group of attached cottages. A carved stone bearing the initials WP and dated 1847 is on the side of the old pub building. Village website Lambourninfo states: “Although not the most opulent building, it is, never the less, part of Lambourn’s past and deserves to be saved from its possible demise.”