Plans to convert 18th century Powys border pub rejected

Plans had been submitted to Shropshire Council to convert the Coach House in the village of Norbury, near Bishop's Castle into a home.

Applicants Mr and Mrs Morris bought the building in 2013 and ran it as a restaurant and accommodation business until the Covid pandemic in 2020. The pair argued that the cost of living crisis left the remaining holiday-letting side of the business unviable.

However, Shropshire Council disagreed with this.

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In a report, the planning officer who handled the application said: “Whilst there is an acceptance of the general struggle of the hospitality sector, the applicant has failed to justify the loss of this particular accessible local community facility and there are no similar alternative facilities with walking distance nearby. “

The planning officer added that Mr and Mrs Morris did not provide enough independent evidence about their claim.

“The application provides insufficient evidence on the future viability of a pub enterprise at the site and does not demonstrate a reasonable attempt to sell it as a business to someone who may consider it viable," the report said.

“A lack of independent economic appraisal and financial justification is also present where only 2018/2019 financial documents were submitted and are limited in being able to understand the viability of the pub in the last few years.

“These documents make it clear operations as a pub (however limited) was in practice in 2019. More recent and detailed accounts are needed. Finally, the submitted information lacks an understanding of measures taken to encourage increased trade in the last few years or outline why these were not successful.

“The information that has been submitted by the applicant is not concluded to be sufficient enough to demonstrate the pub is unviable in the longer term and so the threshold for conversion has not been met. The permanent loss of a potentially viable community facility therefore cannot be supported.”