Plans to demolish Greenfield pub to build houses attract strong objections

Plans to demolish a village pub in Flintshire to make way for houses have attracted strong objections.

It follows an application being put forward to knock down the Packet House pub in Greenfield, near Holywell, and replace it with 12 new homes.

A pub is understood to have been based at the site since the early 1870s.

However, Shape Consulting Engineers, which is behind the scheme, said the business was no longer viable and intends to build affordable housing on the land instead.

The proposals have been greeted by opposition from members of the local community.

While the pub has only been open intermittently during the Covid-19 pandemic, Greenfield councillor Rosetta Dolphin said residents were determined to save it from destruction.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, she said: “I’m dead set against it because it’s a local community asset as far as I’m concerned.
“They say it isn’t used but prior to Covid it was, especially on the weekends when a lot of music would be played down there.
“They really have a strong community spirit and it’s going be such a shame to lose it.
“I know somebody who has been trying to lease it just to keep it running for the locals.
“The local feeling is they want it kept. That’s come across loud and clear and I will be doing everything I can to help them with that.”

Cllr Dolphin, who said her father used to visit the pub, has written to Flintshire Council to raise concerns over the plans.

The pub was previously left severely damaged after being ravaged by fire in November 2018.

It later reopened but consultants acting on behalf of the applicant argued it would be difficult for the business to succeed in the current economic climate.

In a report submitted to the local authority, they said: “The pub was closed for practically a full year due to Covid-19 and lockdown restrictions and as a result the long term viability of the business as a trading pub is in question.
“As the property has a limited kitchen and a small trade area, it would not attract ‘destination’ customers and it is clear that the pub has had to rely on the local population which has not supported the business sufficiently recently.
“There are two pubs locally that cater well for the immediate local community and these pubs offer a wide and varied choice.
“It is for this reason that we consider that the loss of the Packet House would not have a detrimental effect on the community and the loss of one pub amongst all this competition could be justified, if the site provided valuable affordable housing to the area, for which there is a huge demand and requirement.”

Comments are currently being invited on the plans via the council’s website with a decision to be made at a later date.

By Liam Randall – Local Democracy Reporter