Flats plan for historic pub in Knaphill approved

The Anchor in Knaphill was originally built in the late 1700s

Plans for flats to be built at a closed-down 18th Century hotel and pub in Surrey have been approved.

The Anchor in Knaphill was originally built in the late 1700s but closed its doors in 2020.

Woking Borough Council has granted permission for the building to be split up into eight flats and a smaller pub.

The application was the resubmission of a bid which was granted in 2018.

Planning committee chairman Liam Lyons told BBC Radio Surrey he believed it was the right decision.

“It’s about bringing the pub back into some sort of use, that’s been left boarded up and derelict for some years now,” he said.

“I think we’ve got the right mix of housing. We’ve got [eight] units which will increase the housing opportunities in that area and also we’ve got the sensitivity of the application, which preserves the pub in some form for the community to use, if we can find the right person to take it on."

Mr Lyons said the application was "the best of both worlds" and that the smaller pub would be "an opportunity for somebody, as well as building much-needed new homes."

The Anchor, in Lower Guildford Road, is locally listed.

Previously it has been nominated and designated as an Asset of Community Value on two occasions, but both times the listing was overturned by the council.

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