Last week a FOURTH application went in for The Oddfellows site!
The last application, which was eventually refused in December 2023, had included both front and back plots but had been amended, in response to some of our discussions with the owners, to exclude The Oddies and the car park area that we were negotiating to purchase. As a result we felt some good progress had been made towards our goal and made an offer based on an independent valuation for this area before that planning application was eventually rejected. Unfortunately at this point the owners decided to stop communicating with us even though the planning report and subsequent decision notification made reference to the 'community gain' of us acquiring The Oddies being an important consideration in the planning determination!
This new application ignores the rear field and ONLY includes the front area containing The Oddies and car park! It therefore cover the whole area designated as an asset of community value (or ACV). It proposes converting the Georgian part of the pub building into 2 dwellings, and demolishing the rest of the building, to make space for building 5 new properties and leaving an access road to the rear plot. This undermines their previous statements that they were willing to work with the STOP/Higham CBS team to transfer The Oddies to community ownership.
If the new planning proposal sounds familiar, you are right: the second application (which was withdrawn in the face of a deluge of objections) also suggested converting the main building to apartments whilst knocking down the modern bits and building more houses behind it.
It must be remembered that the whole area of the pub buildings and car park are designated an Asset of Community Value (ACV) and the pub is designated a community facility under DM25 of the HBBC Local Plan, which means the Council should resist the its loss.
This article in the Leicester Mercury/Leicestershire Live provides a fair assessment of the current situation and highlights the significant level of support we have!
The STOP/Higham CBS team are meeting in the coming weeks to focus on resisting this new application alongside refining our ongoing plans for when we finally achieve an agreed purchase with the current owners.
If you want more info and advice on submitting comments on the planning application you can contact STOP via the email address or form on the website contact page. The initial response date on the HBBC website is 19th April.
Don't forget: if you are commenting online or by email please remember to include your address and quote the application number: 24/00229/FUL
We will continue to work to save the last pub in the village to provide a hub and focus for the community.
Remember: SAVING THE ODDIES PUB .... makes a village hub!