Plans unveiled to turn empty village pub near Northampton into row of houses

Plans have been unveiled to turn a well-known village pub near Northampton into a row of houses.

The Bull, in Harpole, has been stood empty and up for sale as a freehold pub for more than a year, and now the director of London-based firm Just Pubs Limited, Terry O'Sullivan, has put in a planning application.

The plans could see part of the pub demolished and converted into one home and then four semi-detached properties built on the unused car park.

The planning application was received by South Northamptonshire Council planning committee on Tuesday, January 19.

Within the application there is a viability report from London-based property specialists Davis Coffers Lyons Ltd (DCL) which highlights why the wet led pub is not viable as a business, especially during the Covid crisis.

The application, written by executive director Trevor Watson at DCL, reads: "Given that the village has a small population of only 1,600 people, I consider the level of competition in the immediate area to be excessive. A small village of this nature is not capable of supporting three pubs in my experience.

"The business is not capable of operating as a pub because the potential level of trade that could be achieved, given the level of competition in the village and the size of the population, is such that the business would not be able to operate profitably and investment in restoring the property to full trading potential could not be justified.

"Even before the impact of Covid-19, this pub was not viable. The pandemic has now made the pub a less viable proposition than hitherto.

"In my opinion, The Bull Harpole is not capable of operating on a profitable basis in the long term. As such this property is no longer viable as a public house."

The report said it would cost around £105,000 to re-open the premises as a pub.

Harpole residents have voiced their thoughts on the matter, with one person agreeing that there is not enough trade in the village to support all of the village's pubs.

They said: "The absolute bottom line here is there simply is not enough pub trade in the village to warrant / support two village pubs. I use The Live and Let Live regularly and see the same 50 faces - pretty poor turnout for a village of 600 houses. No point in crying over spilled milk now, should have used what you had."

Another person said: "Shame nobody with cash to splash didn't want to take it on, could be a great pub garden alongside the car park."

"What a shame, so much history," another resident wrote.

"Another one gone forever," a villager added.

To view the application and to voice any objections, click here.