A DERELICT town centre pub looks set to be knocked down.
The former Lord Longworth in Thomas Street, Oswaldtwistle has been earmarked for flats.
Gary Brown has asked Hyndburn Council for planning permission in principle to demolish the pub shell and replace it with up to nine apartments.
His application describes the pub as ‘vacant and derelict’.
The Lord Longworth was previously The New Inn before undergoing a £50,000 renovation in 2016.
Oswaldtwistle’s Lancashire County Councillor Peter Britcliffe gave the proposal a cautious welcome.
He said: “I think this is possibly the right planning application.
“The site is in need of redevelopment.
“The pub building is falling into dereliction.
“Certainly something needs doing with the building and the site.”
Hyndburn Council’s regeneration ecology manager Ian Marfleet has commented that as the building has a pre-1914 slate roof a of ‘phase 1 Preliminary Bat Roost Assessment (PRA), completed by a suitably qualified and competent ecologist for the presence of bats’ must be conducted before any planning approval is given.
That survey should be inclusive of nesting birds.
If it is established the buildings positive potential for roosting bats then a further survey will be required and mitigation measures implemented.
Lancashire County Council highways department commented: “There is an existing vehicle access to the site on Mason Street which is unclassified and subject to a 20mph speed limit.
“The indicative layout shows the vehicle access relocated on Mason Street centrally to the plot.
“A previous application was approved with a condition to require a section of highway to be stopped up.
“There are no records evident which show that this was completed. Therefore, this matter is still outstanding and the highway needs to be stopped up.
“As the building footprint lies on the adopted highway Lancashire County Council acting as the Highway Authority cannot support the principle of the development without further investigation to establish that the principle of stopping up the highway is acceptable.
“To determine this the applicant will need to commence a S116 application with Lancashire County Council with the costs borne by the applicant.
“There is a communal car park proposed for 10 vehicles. A secure and covered cycle store is required for 10 cycles.”
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