Times up for Curridge's Lamb Inn
Proposals to convert the pub into one two-bedroom and one three-bedroom house were given the green light by West Berkshire Council last week.
The plans include the demolition of older parts of the building and extensions to the existing building. Each property will have two car-parking spaces, a reduction of the eight to 10 car-parking spaces currently at the site.
The Lamb had operated as a public house and Indian takeaway until it closed in September 2013.
A feasibility report submitted with the application says the surrounding villages are well served by pubs, including the The Bunk Inn, Curridge, and The Fox and The White Horse, Hermitage.
The report says this type of property has been susceptible to changes in people’s drinking habits and the issue of drink-driving means that people are less willing to travel by car to rural pubs.
It adds that The Lamb Inn struggled for many years to maintain a profitable use as a pub without success.
The report goes on to say that the inn’s last use was as a combined pub and Indian restaurant takeaway and even that did not survive.
The property has been marketed since 2009 and the existing building comprises the former public house on the ground floor and a three-bedroom flat above.
