Pub near St Neots Market Square to be turned into nine flats
The proposal included plans to build five studio flats, one one-bedroom flat, and three two-bedroom flats.Bewick Homes Ltd, who submitted the plans, said there would be space for a commercial unit on the ground floor of the building facing onto Market Square.The development would also be car free with 12 cycle parking spaces, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.A planning statement said it would bring the site back into use and as the building had been "gradually deteriorating" and the unit required "extensive remodelling"."The applicant therefore proposed the total transformation of the site through redeveloping it, predominantly for residential purposes," the application stated. Kevin Gulson, a Conservative councillor on Huntingdonshire District Council, supported the plans and said he recognised the pub had been closed "for some time".
Overdevelopment
Concerns were raised by Hitchin, who said the town council supported the principle of creating new flats, but objected to the current proposals.She said: "This is overdevelopment... and this raises real concerns about the living environment for future residents and does not reflect best practices in design or sustainable housing."Secondly, we object to the loss of valuable retail space. This is a prominent town frontage in Market Square, the replacement commercial space is minimal and poorly integrated, this results in a net loss to the town centre commercial vitality."She said turning the site predominantly into housing "undermines that [Market Square] investment" and would be "damaging to the local economy and vibrancy of the town centre".Steve McAdam, an Independent councillor on Huntingdonshire District Council, said the district council had previously refused plans to turn a shop or pub into homes, and asked planning officers what was different about this application.They responded that developers needed to demonstrate there was no reasonable prospect of the pub or shop being retained or restored.
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