Plans for house behind Crown Inn Northwold turned down

David Walton applied to build the property behind the Crown Inn at Northwold, near Thetford, along with a double garage.

But locals objected. They feared if the scheme went ahead the pub, which has been closed since the start of Covid lockdown in 2020, might never reopen.

Seven objections were posted on West Norfolk council' planning portal.

The Crown Inn at Northwold (Image: ARCHANT NORFOLK PHOTOGRAPHIC � 2008)

Cliff Anderson said: "The application to build a single storey residential building and garage on the car park, if allowed, would effectively ensure that the pub would never reopen, as the outline drawings indicate that the proposed property would largely fill the car park area.

"Without parking facilities the pub would not be viable as a successful business."

Diane Gibbs said: "This was a much loved pub once. It is a village amenity which fulfilled lots of roles and needs to be reinstated as there is a demand for this pub. To build a dwelling on the car park would remove any future chances of a pub."

Warwick Rodwell said: "Building on the car park is a sure way to kill off the future reopening of the Crown as a pub, which has been cherished as a community asset. When it was last on the market, the villagers struggled to raise funds to purchase the property."

Mr Walton bought The Crown with his wife Janice in 2019. Chef Charlie Hodson joined the business the following year.

Villagers had earlier registered the pub as a community asset, which gave them six months to raise the money to purchase the property.

A fundraising campaign launched in 2017 got off to a good start, with £50,000 donated within weeks.

The Save the Crown Inn group had raised more than £100,000 and were hopeful a £100,000 grant and mortgage would enable them to meet the £275,000 asking price for the building.