Old Station House Pub 'Likely' to Reopen Eventually

Planning conditions believed to make permanent closure impractical

Picture: The Old Station House

March 8, 2023

Confusion remains over the future of the Old Station House pub in Grove Park after the existing tenant was given notice to quit.

However, it is believed that a planning condition which requires the ground floor of the building to continue to operate as a pub means that, at some point in the future, it will reopen.

Punch Taverns has confirmed that it was informed of the cessation of its lease earlier this year with no offer made of an extension by the freeholder. The pub chain was given no indication of the freeholder’s intention for the site.

The pub will continue to operate at the Grove Park Road site until St. Patrick’s Day on 17 March.

After that it is believed that work will commence on an approved scheme to increase the residential accommodation in other parts of the building.

The owner has submitted several applications for various designs for the building. Last November, a proposal (P/2022/2425) for a part change of use of ground floor public house to residential together with extension at first and second floors and new two storey element, which would have enabled the construction of six flats, was refused by the council planning committee.

The owner had earlier gained permission for a second floor side and roof extension as well as the formation of a basement which would allow four flats to be built at the site. This was application (P/2020/3154) was submitted in October 2020 and a condition of approval was that the ground floor could only be used as a pub. A related planning applications concerning materials to be used in the building project was declined last month by the council after a failure by the applicant to provide the necessary certification and samples.

Documents submitted with the various applications indicate that the owner of the building is Associate Properties which is based in Birmingham.

The timing of the closure comes during a consultation by the council on the creation of a piazza area in front of the pub of which one of the stated intentions is to boost commercial activity in the area. The pub building features prominently in the visualisations issued by the council of the scheme.

A local planning expert said, “It is very premature at this stage to talk about the pub closing permanently. Although the lack of communication from the owners is perplexing, a reopening following the completion of building work is by far the most likely outcome.

“The conditions of the planning consent are not ambiguous, the ground floor area has to be a pub. It would be highly difficult for them to claim it is unviable after they themselves had terminated the lease of an existing tenant.

“Before any permission was given to convert it into residential, council planners would want to see evidence that a genuine attempt had been made to make a go of the pub.

“There is of course a slim possibility that they will attempt to outwait the council by leaving the space unused for years, but this seems to me very unlikely as there is a limited chance of success and it would undermine marketing of the flats above.”

The building started life as the Grove Park Hotel and has operated with a few short breaks ever since. It was renamed as the Old Station House in 2008 and was taken over by Punch in December 2020 but then closed for much of lockdown until reopening in July 2022.

We have been unable to make contact with Associate Properties and the planning agent acting for the firm to confirm their intentions.

Councillor Tom Bruce, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Development said, “The Council has robust planning policies in place to protect community facilities, such as The Old Station House. Should the developer wish to remove the public house use from the site they would need to demonstrate that either the use is re-provided elsewhere in the area or a robust and unsuccessful marketing campaign has taken place to retain a public house within the building. Neither has been demonstrated to the Council to date. However, the Council cannot control the operator of the pub nor can it ensure that the pub is occupied.”