All the pubs we’ve loved and lost in West Berkshire - as more look set to be turned into homes
Another pub in West Berkshire has closed – and will be turned into houses.
The White Hart Inn in Hamstead Marshall has been given permission to convert the pub site into four houses.
The pub – which closed in October 2022 – has been on sale since last January and is “no longer viable as a public house”, claims the owner, Stella Coulthurst.
“No one is sadder than me about the outcome,” she told a meeting of West Berkshire Council’s planning committee.
Stella said she renovated the pub in 2011 from derelict, spending £700,000 doing it.
Part of the planning rules to change a pub use into residential use is that it cannot make way as a business.
“I employed experienced general managers to run the largely destination pub,” she explained.
“My role was predominantly back of house. We tried to appeal to locals too and I ran a wizard pub quiz. Financially it was a disaster.
“The previous owner went bust and under my ownership it has never made a profit. I propped up the losses. I closed in 2015 but tried again in 2019.
“Post Covid, with a dearth of staff, I moved to front of house and put on one of the best breakfasts in Berkshire. There was high praise for it all but still a financial disaster.”
The pub was forced to shut last winter due to the soaring price of energy bills, and will now be sold and made into houses after its owner said she had exhausted her personal savings.
The Government's recent decision to scale back support for businesses means she will have to sell up, she said.
The Government announced the changes after warning that the current level of help was too expensive.
Pubs were given 100 per cent business rates relief in response to the Covid-19 pandemic but this was then cut to 75 per cent and will be removed from April.
The White Hart is the latest in a long line of closures across the district, with many former pubs being turned into houses or offices.
Just this week, The Rising Sun in Stockcross has lodged a planning application to be turned into houses.
The proposal is to demolish the now derelict pub building, and construct a pair of semi detached dwellings fronting Ermin Street and a single detached dwelling to the rear of the site. Vehicle access for all properties would utilise the existing vehicle access from Ermin Street.
Fifty pubs a month closed for good across England and Wales in the first half of this year. Around 30 pubs in the Newbury area have closed in the last two decades.
Analysis by the real estate company Altus found that 305 pubs were forced to shut their doors permanently in the first six months of the year, meaning the number of pubs in England and Wales fell to 39,096 at the end of June.
Pubs that have “vanished” from the communities they once served have either been demolished and/or converted into other types of use such as homes, offices, day nurseries and care homes.
The White Hart saw 28 objections to the proposal – with some saying it should be made an asset of community value. Although no applications for that have been made.
The Campaign for Real Ale says this is one way to save the local pubs from being developed.
“Even if your local isn’t under any kind of obvious threat, it’s well worth getting it registered as an Asset of Community Value (ACV),” it said.
“Should a pub with ACV status ever be put up for sale then a six-month moratorium kicks in during which time the local community can submit a bid to buy it themselves. At worst, this buys campaigning time.
“The Government has recently announced its intention to further protect ACV-listed pubs by requiring planning permission to be obtained before they can be demolished or converted to a shop, restaurant or office.”
Under the 2011 Localism Act, community groups and parish and town councils can ask for a building or parcel of land to be listed as an Asset of Community Value.
Examples include local shops; pubs; libraries; theatres; cinemas; community halls; sports facilities; and parks or open green spaces.
These can be in private, public or even Crown ownership, but homes, hotels and Church of England land are all exempt.
If a nomination is successful, the building or land is added to the list of community assets for a period of five years.
If the owner decides to sell a property on the list, they must tell the council. If a community group wants to buy it, they can invoke their Community Right to Bid. This pauses the sale for six months to give them time to raise funds and submit a bid.
The community group does not have the right to buy the asset. At the end of the six-month period, the owner can sell the asset to whoever they wish and at any price.
Five wrote in support of the Hamstead Marshall pub move saying that the landlady, Stella, worked over 12 hour days to attempt to achieve financial viability and that very few local people have supported the pub.
It will be the latest in a long line of planning applications to West Berkshire Council to convert into residential use.
Amongst them, a Grade-II listed pub in Thatcham.
Sandstone Estates Ltd has applied for permission to convert The Plough Inn into five houses.
The applicant’s heritage statement read: “The proposed works will allow the future sustainable use of the listed building, caring for it and securing the safe use and maintenance of the building for the foreseeable future, whilst retaining its heritage value and architectural interest.”
According to www.closedpubs.co.uk The Blackbird in Bagnor, which opened in the 1950s and closed in 2021, has got a planning application for housing in at the council.
The same with the Travellers Friend on Crookham Common Road where there are plans to demolish it and build 18 flats for young people with autism.
The fate of others shows a similar narrative.
The Winning Hand at Beenham closed in 2016 and is now a care home.
The George & Dragon, which was on Hawkridge Hill in Bucklebury, is now used as a private house.
Two former pubs in Kintbury are now in residential use – The Axe and Compass and the Barley Mow on Inkpen Road. The old Crossways Inn is now a nursery.
The list goes on.
In Lambourn, the Red Lion which was on Market Place is now flats.
In Thatcham, The Prancing Horse was on Chapel Street and is now in residential use.
In Newbury, the list is lengthy. The Rising Sun was situated at 11 Wharf Road. This pub has now been demolished with a KFC built on the site.
Paul Worsley, pubs officer at West Berkshire Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), said there were a number of local pubs that had closed for good in recent years.
“Without exception, all [of these] were extensively marketed to let or seeking a tenant, eventually the owners put the freehold on the market with the only interest being for change of use.
“All of the pubs required refurbishment.
“The days of pubs – particularly outside town centres – having a steady trade seven days a week including lunchtimes are long gone.
“Weekday lunchtime food just about kept the rural pubs going, but with Covid, folk got used to eating at home and didn’t come back.”
Mr Worsley said the following pubs had ceased trading in the past decade:
Three Horsehoes, Brimpton, shut in January 2021 – planning granted for change of use to residential.
Travellers Friend, Crookham, shut in 2021. Plans to convert to a training institution for disabled adults.
The White Hart, shut October 2022. Planning granted for change of use to residential.
Prince of Wales, Kintbury, closed in 2020 and work is under way to convert it to residential.
The Blue Ball, Newbury, shut in 2011 and is now a number of homes.
Wellington, shut in 2018 and now converted to residential.
The Narrowboat shut in 2018.
The Lord Lyon, in Stockcross, closed in 2017 and was converted to flats.
The Rising Sun, also in Stockcross, shut in 2020. An active planning application for demolition and conversion to residential is currently ongoing.
The Black Horse, Thatcham, has been converted to residential.
The Blackbird/Renaissance, in Bagnor, currently has an application in for change of use to residential.
The Old Bell, in Wash Common, shut in 2019 and is now a vets and pet shop.