Homes to go on former pub site
CONTROVERSIAL plans to turn a popular former Italian restaurant and pub into housing have got the go ahead.
Mr P Amatino’s application to Rossendale council for the site of the Anacapri restaurant, in Helmshore, had met with 175 objections.
It had been recommended for approval by officers, and received no objections from statutory consultees.
The bid to convert the vacant Helmshore Road building and car park into two four-bedroom houses, and erect three new fivebed houses to the rear, with associated works, was unanimously approved at the recent planning meeting - conducted via video app Zoom.
Many objectors referred to the building’s previous use as the White Horse pub, which closed in 2013 before being converted into a restaurant, which closed for good last year.
One objector had written: “The building and land to be developed as applied for has long been a feature and functional part of the community of Helmshore. Indeed as residents of over 40 years myself and my family have enjoyed the ‘White Horse’ as both a pub and the function facilities for many events over the years, a facility that is in very limited supply in the Helmshore area.”
Another stated: “The White Horse is more than just a place to eat and drink, and every single one of the thousands that once acted patron there regularly would agree that its value to our community is enormous and engrained as a social centre for those living in the valley.”
Planning consultants Kirkwell had previously advised that restaurants in such locations can quickly become unviable.
Policy 7 of the Core Strategy resists the loss of social infrastructure/community facilities that require a change of use application. However, a restaurant is not a category of use which Policy 7 specifically seeks to protect. The report prepared by the planning manager states: “Restaurants tend to provide diners with a more private experience with less chance (and less intention) of social interaction than the more open and social atmosphere typical of a public house.”
It also highlighted the presence of four alternative nightspots between 5 and 8 minutes’ walk from the site on Helmshore Road or Holcombe Road.