In a 3-1 vote by Councillors (Chairman abstaining) the recent application to develop a holiday cottage from the old building on the land of the Henry Jenkins Pub was refused.
Many thanks to all the supporters who objected and helped show the Councilors the local support for development of the Henry Jenkins as a community Pub.
The Skipton & Ripon planning committee heard from Richard (Sadler) and Jane (Aksut) as representatives for the Henry Jenkins Community Pub group who argued that the development of the cottage would make it un-viable to run the Pub, particularly since the car park would be taken away. They also noted that delivery of beer would not be possible. An important component of a viable pub!
David Fielder, the owner of the land, retaliated by arguing that the piggery had not been part of the Pub and it should be allowed to be developed as a cottage.
There was discussion about the merits of developing the cottage and countered by talk on the effect it would have on the possible future Pub opening and the final decision was made after much discussion.
The actual reason for refusal was –
“It is considered that the loss of the application site would cause demonstrable harm to the prospect of the Henry Jenkins site continuing as a community facility and therefore approval would be contrary to Policy HP8: Protection and Enhancement of Community Facilities in that there would be no reasonable prospect of the facility being used viably.”
At this stage it is not known if the applicant will submit another application or take this to appeal.
The Henry Jenkins Community Pub group is still hoping to continue negotiations with the owner for purchase of the Pub as a whole to bring it back to community use.
