Disused town centre pub to be converted into flats

The Market Square in St Neots was recently redeveloped

A town centre pub that has been empty for about four years will be converted into nine flats.

Huntingdonshire District Council approved plans to redevelop the former Brook and Barter pub at St Neots Market Square, Cambridgeshire.

The pub closed in 2021 and no offers were made to open a new business when it was marketed, said planning officers.

Vivienne Hitchin, an Independent councillor on St Neots Town Council, said the creation of nine flats, including five studio flats, would be "overdevelopment".

The proposal included plans to build five studio flats, one one-bedroom flat, and three two-bedroom flats.

Bewick Homes Ltd, who submitted the plans, said there would be space for a commercial unit on the ground floor of the building facing onto Market Square.

The development would also be car free with 12 cycle parking spaces, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

A planning statement said it would bring the site back into use and as the building had been "gradually deteriorating" and the unit required "extensive remodelling".

"The applicant therefore proposed the total transformation of the site through redeveloping it, predominantly for residential purposes," the application stated.

Kevin Gulson, a Conservative councillor on Huntingdonshire District Council, supported the plans and said he recognised the pub had been closed "for some time".

Overdevelopment

Concerns were raised by Hitchin, who said the town council supported the principle of creating new flats, but objected to the current proposals.

She said: "This is overdevelopment... and this raises real concerns about the living environment for future residents and does not reflect best practices in design or sustainable housing.

"Secondly, we object to the loss of valuable retail space. This is a prominent town frontage in Market Square, the replacement commercial space is minimal and poorly integrated, this results in a net loss to the town centre commercial vitality."

She said turning the site predominantly into housing "undermines that [Market Square] investment" and would be "damaging to the local economy and vibrancy of the town centre".

Steve McAdam, an Independent councillor on Huntingdonshire District Council, said the district council had previously refused plans to turn a shop or pub into homes, and asked planning officers what was different about this application.

They responded that developers needed to demonstrate there was no reasonable prospect of the pub or shop being retained or restored.