Plan to turn former Alcester pub into homes and use the car park for two more properties
A FORMER Alcester pub could be turned into two homes while two further houses could be built on the site of the old car park.
The Lord Nelson, an 18th century Georgian inn on Priory Road, was closed in 2017 by the current owners.
Planning documents submitted to Stratford District Council state that the building was marketed as a pub from 2017 and, although there was initially some interest, it was not possible to conclude a sale.
It was put up for sale at £395,00 and attracted 23 viewings and five offers, ranging from £200,000 to £385,000, but these were “all short of the asking price”.
With no buyer, the plan is to turn the Grade II-listed building into two properties – one with four bedrooms which would us the current entrance, the other with two bedrooms and its own, new entrance.
The documents add: “The existing garage on the car park is of no architectural merit and will be removed.
“Two new dwellings will be constructed in the car park, between the pub and 71 Priory Road.”
Both would be two-storey, two-bedroom properties.
While planning policies favour retaining pubs, there are exceptions if it can be proved the business has no commercial future or it has been actively marketed with no success.
The planning documents state the pub struggled “to make a reasonable profit for some time and closed due to the personal circumstances of the owners”.
It adds that a viability report “demonstrates that the pub venture would be loss making” and it was unlikely to find financial backing to invest the “required funds”.
It also concludes that there are sufficient alternative venues in Alcester.
