Plans for Woolhampton pub rise again

Application for six homes to replace the closed Rising Sun

A NEW set of plans for an historic West Berkshire pub have been submitted.

Mark Hopkin, of Premier Developments Southern, is seeking to convert Woolhampton’s Rising Sun into a four-bedroom house.

He also wants to build six homes within the pub’s boundary.

The former coaching inn, said to have been the scene of the arrest by the Bow Street Runners of notorious highwayman Captain Hawkes, closed in July 2013 and has been boarded up ever since.

It was closed by Arkells as it was deemed to be non cost-effective to keep it running, following the high turnover of tenants and continued non-profitability of the pub.

Evidence of a break-in was found during an inspection of the pub, with copper pipes having been crudely removed, leading to water damage.

There was substantial damage to the roof as the lead and roof tiles had also been stolen.

The Rising Sun was put on the market in January 2014 with an initial guide price of £465,000 for the freehold.

A report from property advisors Whitmarsh Lockhart, however, said that no public house operators had expressed an interest in the building.

A report into the pub’s viability by Davis Coffer Lyons said that the barrelage at the pub had dropped from 52,120 to 15,098 in the last four years.

It concluded that if the pub were to reopen as a pub-restaurant it would generate a net loss before tax.

The damage to the building was also judged to be a significant factor in a brewery taking on the building.

The report said: “Given the demonstrable absence of expected profitability from the business, that no pub or restaurant operator would be prepared to undertake this project in order to bring the property back into use as a pub or pub-restaurant.”

This will be Mr Hopkin’s second attempt at developing the site.

West Berkshire Council refused an application last year to demolish the pub and build 14 houses across the site.

Among the reasons were that the pub was outside the village settlement boundary, it was a non-designated heritage asset, and that limited information had been supplied in the viability report.

The pub hit the headlines in April 2013 when an articulated lorry transporting a mobile home jackknifed into the building.

Woolhampton has lost the Falmouth Arms to housing during the time between the Rising Sun applications being submitted.

A decision is expected from West Berkshire Council by Wednesday, November 11.