100-year-old Longford pub could be turned into studio flats
Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2019 3:16 pm
The pub had been running since 1914 but beer sales have declined rapidly over the last 10 years
An historic Coventry pub is set to be turned into studio flats as it is "unviable" as a booze business.
The Old Crown Inn, on Windmill Road in Longford, has been standing since 1914.
But now it is set for a new lease of life as a house of multiple occupation (HMO).
A report prepared for Coventry City Council's planning committee says the pub is now "unviable".
It says trade has declined by around 50 per cent over the last decade, and there is too much competition locally for the pub to survive even if it could start providing food.
Nearby residents had worried that it would be used as a halfway house for ex-convicts or a rehab centre - with 166 submitting a petition against the development.
But those behind the project - APSE Building Design Ltd - previously told neighbours they have nothing to fear and the flats would be used by local people who are unable to get onto the property ladder.
The application to change the building's use has now been recommended for approval by councillors who will meet on Friday, February 15, to decide its future.
A marketing report by the developers states that Admiral Taverns had "determined that the business was failing and that it had become an 'end of life' premises".
Council officers say they agree that running a pub at the site would be "unviable".
The pub will be transformed into a HMO with 11 studio apartments and nine car parking spaces if planning permission is approved on Friday.
An office building will also be created to allow on-site management of the site.
The former pub, which was used as a recruiting post during World War One and sits just 50 yards from Longford Park Primary School, has already been stripped out.
A temporary stop notice was issued by Coventry City Council in October and no work has been undertaken since.
The developers will need to demolish post-Edwardian ground floor additions to the original structure and build a single storey ground floor extension at the rear of the property to make it viable as a HMO.
There will also be changes to the internal layout.
The project is now recommended to be granted planning permission as council officers say it will not adversely impact on neighbours, the area or highway safety.