Flats plan approved for Berwick pub

Planning permission has been granted for the change of use of the former Harrow Inn, on the corner of Kiln Hill and Main Street in Tweedmouth, into four residential apartments, including external alterations and a first-floor rear extension.

Given that the applicant is Cllr Guy Renner-Thompson, the ward member for Bamburgh who serves on Northumberland County Council’s strategic planning committee, the scheme had to be decided by the other members at the meeting on Tuesday, August 4, where it was recommended for approval.

The site is within Tweedmouth Conservation Area, but the council’s building conservation officer did not have any concerns.

Originally, there had been no objections, but Berwick Town Council changed its response late on to object on the basis of the four trees which are to be removed to the rear of the site, but the committee did not consider this a concern.

A written submission from the area’s ward member, Cllr Georgina Hill, which was read out at the meeting, stated that ‘shoe-horning four flats into this building means some small rooms’, but she also described it as ‘perfectly appropriate’ to the conservation area.

She added: “Locals will be sorry to see the end of a local pub, but it’s well-known that even before Covid-19, pubs were struggling to survive.”

Moving approval, Cllr Jeff Reid said: “It’s a good use of a building that’s just going to deteriorate even more.

“Cllr Hill is right, some of the rooms are a bit small, but what else are we going to do with a pub that can’t survive?”

He did highlight that the plans showed an access to one of the properties across the next-door grass area, which belongs to the county council, and requested an informative be added to the planning permission to remind the applicant that permission must be given by the landowner.

Approval is subject to a £1,845 ecological contribution towards the local authority’s coastal mitigation service.

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