Pub's flats and shop plan for village rejected

Plans would have seen apartments built at The Swan Inn

An apartments scheme has been rejected by council planners who cited "overdevelopment" fears.

The proposals would have seen homes built at The Swan Inn in Knowle Sands near Bridgnorth, Shropshire.

The pub's owners hoped to get outline planning permission to knock down a function room and build a mixture of “open market housing, affordable housing, pub letting and owner accommodation”.

But Shropshire Council planners rejected the scheme and said the new building would dominate the existing pub.

The owners said the scheme was part of plans to make its business financially viable.

“This will justify and finance reopening of an improved, more energy-efficient pub as well as the creation of services more suited to community needs," a planning statement read.

They also wanted permission to create a village shop in another part of the building, saying there had not been a shop in Knowle Sands for decades.

"We are not expecting the shop to be a major source of additional income but part of a wider diversification," the application added.

The council said the development would be “an intensification of use not reflective or acceptable within the rural village setting”.

“The proposed scale and number of dwellings is concluded to be an overdevelopment of the site," the local authority said.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.