Belchamp St Paul and Belchamp Otten Parish Council joins village residents in objecting to Cherry Tree pub’s conversion to a home

A council has joined village residents in objecting to a vacant pub’s conversion to a home.

Belchamp St Paul and Belchamp Otten Parish Council has lodged its opposition to the plans for the Cherry Tree, in Knowl Green. Three other residents have also voiced their objections to the changes.

The plans, from Rex Everitt, seek to convert the pub to a single home.

The pub was originally built as a house but was converted to a pub in the late 1800s, which a planning statement said lent it to being reverted back.

A statement said the application would bring a heritage asset back into viable use after being empty for 13 years.

At a meeting on September 2, the parish council said it objected to the development on the grounds that it would lead to a ‘loss of amenity for the village’.

Belchamp St Paul residents echoed the council’s sentiments.

A Cole Green villager said the pub had a ‘huge following’ and was run as a busy public house before the owner ‘decided to close the doors to start the change of use application’.

They described the Cherry Tree as ‘the hub of the village for locals to get together’. They also expressed concerns that public houses were closing at ‘an alarming rate’.

Another resident, of Gage’s Road, questioned a valuation of the pub itself and costs to repair it submitted with the plans.

A valuation report and viability assessment listed the pub with a market value of £475,000 in June 2017. Due to security concerns, partly due to incidents of vandalism and theft, the pub was largely stripped of fixtures and fittings.

It was estimated costs to reinstate the property as a trading entity would be a minimum of £200,000.

The Gage’s Road resident said it was difficult to take the valuation seriously given the time periods.

They said: “The problem is that the pub was neglected and allowed to fall into disrepair very quickly after it closed.

“As others have noted in response to multiple previous attempts to obtain a change of use to residential on this site, the pub was popular with villagers and a locals from a wider catchment until it was abrubtly closed.”

They noted the climate is challenging for pubs but highlighted the Memories site in Sible Hedingham as an example of a site being refurbished after a long period of being closed.

Another resident, of Knowl Green, expressed concerns the change to a home could marginalise members of the community.

They described the Cherry Tree as a ‘highly popular and well loved pub’ which was regularly visited by locals and people from further afield, while it was also the ‘home of the Morris men, darts team, local community groups etc.’

“Changing this to a residential dwelling would further marginalise this small community,” they said.