Campaigners hope to save disused pub for community

Marlene Benson said there was "such a wonderful community spirit"

Campaigners want to save a disused pub that has been closed since 2018 and bring it back into community use.

The owner of The Old Stags Head in Penn, Wolverhampton, has wanted to turn it into a house, but there have been more than 300 objections.

City of Wolverhampton Council rejected a planning application and an appeal in 2022, but a second application has been made.

The Old Stags Head, which has been there for up to 200 years and is in a conservation area, is only about three miles from The Crooked House in Himley, which was demolished last year following a suspected arson attack.

The Penn pub is registered as an asset of community value.

Former landlady Marlene Benson, who said it had hosted Wolves footballers and the band Slade, said: "It's the history of this place and there's such a wonderful community spirit.

"I definitely think that the community should benefit from this building still, bring it back to life and I think there's enough interest."

Chair of the Penn Residents Association Debbie Peach said: "The worse it gets, the more people will want it to be a house.

"It wasn't just a pub, was it?", she said, adding: "It could be so much more."

Debbie Peach said the pub "could be so much more"

The Penn pub is registered as an asset of community value

A council spokesperson said: "We remain supportive of the residents and would very much like to see the historic use of The Old Stags Head as a community pub, at the centre of the Vicarage Rd (Penn) Conservation Area, re-established."

An owner, who has put the pub up for sale while continuing to seek planning permission for the house, said in planning documents for the second application that they had provided evidence that "a public house use is not a viable proposition".

They added proposals would "secure the optimum viable use of a redundant building and will inject significant investment into the site".

People have until 1 April to respond to the latest planning application.

The pub has been there for up to 200 years