Public meeting to discuss pub redevelopment plans today (Sunday)

The plans, submitted by John Castle of Ilexanna Ltd, seek to “renovate, refurbish and rejuvenate” the Ibex Inn by creating an enlarged kitchen and two bedrooms with en-suite facilities for Bed and Breakfast use.
The applicant says there will be 18 car parking spaces, two of which for disabled use, as well as eight cycle spaces and the retention of four spaces for motorbikes, adding that the re-opened pub would create three full-time and four part-time jobs.
The applicant says that the Ibex has had “a history of failure” in recent years but an opportunity to rescue the pub presented itself when owners Green King put it up for sale with development potential.
However, in order to save the pub the application also includes a proposal to build two semi-detahced cottages, a detached house and a holiday cottage; and convert a disused outbuilding opposite the pub into a studio apartment.
The applicant says that the buildings will improve the Ibex without compromising its local village pub feel and that construction and renovation work will be carried out in one phase to ensure minimal disruption to the pub once it re-opens.
The company says it is hoped that villagers and West Berkshire Council will support the proposals as the pub will be saved from extinction.
It adds that any delays in the planning process will stall the re-opening the pub, aimed for spring 2015, saying that the speed at which things proceed are now in the hands of local residents, the parish council and West Berkshire Council.
The plans have been met with strong opposition from former resident Simon Worby, who said that the proposal was “fuelled by financial greed without a care for the village and surrounding area.”
Mr Worby, who rents a property near the pub, said that it would be inappropriate to have new builds nestling in on the old character of the pub as they would be out of keeping.
He adds that there is very little parking on the road and a loss of space in the car park would cripple the pubs viability.
He said: “In essence this proposal is nothing more than a front to build inappropriate housing in the wrong place, and in the process to destroy the Ibex Inn Public House and render it such that it can never be a viable going concern, thereby providing the desired excuse to close it down and convert it, too, into housing.”
Furthermore, a spokeswoman for West Berkshire Council, Peta Stoddart-Crompton said that as Chaddleworth has no settlement boundary and is within an area of outstanding natural beauty, any form of development was likely to have to be limited.
She added that the applicant had produced a financial justification for the enabling of the development, which would be considered by the planning authority.
Parish Council chairman Grahame Murphy said that residents would be able to view and comment on the plans at a public meeting between 2pm and 4pm in the village hall on Sunday, February 16.
A decision is expected from West Berkshire Council by Monday, March 24.