A plan to convert a building that is meant to house a pub into flats in a Berkshire village has been hit with objections.
The Squirrels pub in North Street, Cranbourne, was completely demolished in June last year.
Plans approved in August 2022 will see it replaced with three five-bedroom homes.
There is also meant to be a new building with a pub on the ground floor and four apartments above it.
Now, development company Bright Sky Business has submitted an application to turn the ground floor into two two-bedroom flats.
That has led to opposition from neighbours who want the pub back.
Charlie Mac said: “When this was approved, there was one condition, and that was the ground floor of the new building would be a bar and restaurant to serve the local community.
“Also, it would benefit visitors to Ascot and Legoland.”
He went on to suggest the developers never intended to re-provide a pub in the first place.
Mr Mac said: “This was obviously the plan from the beginning. This community needs this facility, but the developers don’t care.”
The site is located next to the Cranbourne Hall residential park.
A fellow neighbour wrote: “This pub restaurant was used by the residents of Cranbourne Hall park and is a much-needed hub.
“It appears that the way this has been advertised from the start as a ‘ground floor commercial unit’ and the build design, the owners never planned for this to be a pub restaurant and were always planning to get a change of use.”
There have been around 60 objections to the plan so far.
The project has been justified in a marketing report by Savills, which advertised the unit for 13 months, receiving 16 direct enquiries.
Of the five shortlisted, none were pub operators.
Instead, two of the interested parties were convenience store franchises, with the others being a retailer, a hairdresser and a commercial printed clothing business.
The marketing report mentions the Greene King and Brunning & Price companies, showing that the replacement pub would not meet all of their requirements.
While it would meet a requirement to be in a village location with a mid-market population, it was determined that the pub would not have space for 80 covers.
There are two pubs close to the site, The Old Hatchet in Cranbourne, run by Fullers, and The Cricketers in Warfield, which featured in the ITV Be series Absolutely Ascot, run by Greene King.
Supporting the change, a neighbour in North Street wrote: “There is little demand for a restaurant in this location.
“Commercial premises like a singular restaurant should not be isolated in a random location on a residential street.
“It will never be a success, it will be hard to let and then when they do find someone it will never work and the business will have to shut down.
“What people in this area need is more affordable flats for singles or young couples.
“This is certainly a better option than a noisy restaurant (if it ever gets let) on a residential street.”
The plan is yet to be decided. You can view it by typing reference 25/00224/FUL into Bracknell Forest Council’s planning portal.
