Pub site goes up for sale a week after it is gutted by fire
OWNER PULLS OUT OF PLANS TO BULLDOZE BUILDING AND BUILD HOUSES, AND SITE WILL BE AUCTIONED
A FIRE-HIT former pub is back on the market less than a week after it was destroyed in an arson attack.
The Dart Inn, in Short Street, Stapenhill, has been plagued by antisocial behaviour and vandalism since it closed in 2017. And was gutted in a devastating blaze on Sunday, June 12.
It is now on the market with a guide price of £475,000, which is £200,000 more than it previously sold for in 2019, despite its fire-damaged state. SML UK Solutions Ltd, which owns the site, had previously told Burton Mail it “regretted” buying the property after waiting a year for council approval of its application to bulldoze the closed pub and build 11 homes on the site. When the Burton Mail tried to contact SML UK Solutions Ltd yesterday, the number came up as no longer valid and its website no longer exists.
Now, the property will be auctioned off by SDL Auctions after an advertisement sign was erected outside the pub less than a week after the fire. It comes after nearby residents have been calling for the pub to be pulled down for years after several arson attacks and vandalism.
One resident said: “The pub has been an eyesore for years.” They said the place had been left to go to “rack and ruin” and that the site had not been secure for quite some time now. They need to pull it down now”, they said.
“Whoever has allowed the pub and land to get into this state should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. Surely the council should have stepped in and insisted that it be secured with a bit more force that pinning notices to a railing?
“People need to alter their attitude that Short Street is a dump, so what does it matter anyway? One more eyesore won’t make any difference. Short Street has some lovely residents, many of whom have lived here for decades, and we don’t deserve for our street to be treated with such disdain,” they said.
East Staffordshire Borough Council has visited the site since the fire and said it would not be applying to have the old pub, which closed five years ago, demolished following its building inspection. A council spokesperson said: “A building control officer has been to inspect the Dart Inn and has currently outlined the site as contained. The council is now processing this information, and as such no application for demolition has been submitted.”
The last time the pub was bought was in 2019 when it had a guide price of £275,000. It is now up for auction with a guide price of £475,000 with planning permission for the homes included.
A marketing report by SDL Auctions says: “The site benefits from planning consent for the demolition of the existing public house and garage and erection of one block of four terraced houses, one block of seven terraced houses and associated car parking.”
The Dart was closed and first boarded up in 2017 with owners pub firm Admiral Taverns saying at the time that it was hopeful it would reopen. However, it was unable to find a new owner to take it on as a pub and the venue was deemed “unviable”.
The auction is set to take place on Thursday, June 30 and further information is available at www. sdlauctions.co.uk/property/36594/ land-for-auction-burton-on-trent/