Planning verdict due on ex-pub after flats find

A decision over whether an empty pub can re-open as an Indian grill is due to be made months after it was discovered that part of the building had been converted into flats without permission.

Plans for a restaurant at the former Royal Oak pub on New Street, Wolverhampton, were due for decision in September, but the call was deferred by the council following the flats find.

If a revised planning application is approved, it would see the building, shut since 2022, re-open as a dining venue, and with the first floor converted into three one-bed homes.

The planning committee is set to meet on 20 January to rule on the scheme which originally had a domestic component.

Ahead of a council meeting last September, visiting planning officers found that the pub's first floor, which was part of a planning application to convert it into a five-room house of multiple occupation (HMO), had already been converted into seven self-contained flats.

The applicant Bye To Let Ltd said the already completed work would form the basis of a layout that would be revised, and asked to meet with council staff at a later date to discuss changes.

As a result, a decision on the application was deferred and the application later amended.

The application said a 15-year lease had been signed to convert the pub into an Indian bar and grill, with the flats - "essential to ensure the pub's financial viability" - privately let.

A report by the council's planning officers recommended the application should be approved.

The building, on the border of Wolverhampton and Willenhall, has attracted fly-tipping, rats and vandalism while empty.

"The proposals would bring the Royal Oak public house, a valued community facility and locally listed building, back into use after being vacant since 2022 and subject to anti-social behaviour," the report said.

"The proposed single-storey extensions are modest and in keeping with the building's character and surroundings.

"The amended proposal for three first-floor apartments provides satisfactory living conditions, complies with national minimum space standards, and is unlikely to cause unacceptable impacts on neighbour amenity or contribute significantly to crime or antisocial behaviour."

But the council said the original and since overhauled, seven-flat layout "constituted poor design due to substandard size and amenity provision", with the applicant advised that "planning enforcement action would likely be taken against their occupation".

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

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