Residents ready to take up Arms for pub again

A FORMER pub in Farnborough is under threat of demolition once again.

Plans were submitted in March to partially demolish the vacant Imperial Arms, in Farnborough Street, and change its use to residential, but the application was deemed invalid shortly before a decision was due to be made by councillors, last month.

Keith Holland, head of planning at Rushmoor Borough Council, said there were land ownership issues and the authority believed the owners had not been served the right notice.

However, the application was validated again on June 19.

Applicant Ray Charles has applied to convert the pub into a three-bedroom family home with an attached twobedroom house, and a further three, three-bedroom homes, with associated landscape and parking.

Pub neighbours formed the Farnborough Street Residents’ Association (FSRA), in opposition to the plans, and the application received more than 40 objections.

One comment

on

the council’s website read: “I think this would cause a real problem for traffic and parking in an already overcrowded road. It will also cause a loss of privacy in a private area which doesn’t have this issue at the moment and hopefully never will. It is an old part of this beautiful part of Farnborough, let’s keep it that way. Everywhere is being spoilt, please don’t do it to this part. I have been born and bred in Farnborough, and in this part, so I don’t want to see it being ruined.”

Martine Brennan, chairman of the FSRA, has lived on the street for 14 years.

She said: “Health and safety is a great concern as access to and from the new site will cause problems.

“Perhaps the developers would like to come and see the problems for themselves in the mornings, when there can be around 70 cars coming and going in a very narrow street.”

The pub was bought by Pubs n Bars, a national chain of bars and restaurants, in 2005, however the company went into administration in 2009.

At the beginning of 2012 the Imperial Arms was put up for sale and the property was sold in December of that year.

The business re-opened under new management but made significant losses and closed in October, remaining vacant ever since.

A decision on the plans is due to be made by the council’s development management committee, on Wednesday August 6.