Council to decide on Leicester railway station pub demolition

The art deco Parcel Yard stands where a new entrance to the station is proposed

Plans to knock down a pub with historical links to Leicester railway station could be approved this week.

The Parcel Yard pub stands next to the city's Victorian station, in London Road, but is earmarked for demolition as part of £22m plan to transform the surrounding area.

Leicester City Council and Network Rail are behind the scheme.

Councillors are to discuss the future of the pub, which closed earlier this year, when they meet on Wednesday.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said planning officers had recommended the council's planning committee approve the flattening of the 1930s art deco pub, which is named after the station's former sorting office and parcel yard.

The council secured £17.6m of government levelling up cash in 2021 towards a complete remodel of the station.

An artist's impression shows the proposal for a new station entrance

If approved, the project would see the station's existing covered entrance hall area turned into a new plaza for shopping, food and drinks.

Existing taxi ranks would be moved to nearby Station Street, where the façade of the station would be restored, turning it into the new main entrance where the pub stands now.

A second planning application has yet to be submitted for the wider scheme.

Green Party ward councillor Patrick Kitterick objected to the demolition, saying he feared the pub could be lost even if the scheme was not later approved.

Pocket park

Historic England said the demolition would reveal "unsightly views of parts of the station" currently hidden by the building and the "scars" from where the old parcel yard was attached to it.

The watchdog said the application contained "no assurance that the redevelopment will proceed".

Planning officers said it was "unlikely" the wider scheme would not proceed.

However, planning documents suggest that, if it did not go ahead, a "pocket park" would be created in the space left by the pub instead.

This would be a "landscaped area" with planters and seating, and space for pop-up stalls and kiosks, the authority said.

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