Plans refused to demolish closed Stretton Ring O’ Bells pub building

An application was submitted to Warrington Borough Council seeking full planning permission for the demolition of Ring O’ Bells pub.

The venue, located on Northwich Road in Lower Stretton, has seen a number of tenants over the years, before closing as a pub in 2020.

It reopened as the Stretton Bar and Grill, though it finally closed its doors in August 2023.

Planning permission was sought from applicant A&J Thwaites Ltd, an electrical installation firm, for the pub’s demolition.

Approval was also sought for a proposed replacement building in its place, along with an associated bin store and car parking – but the application has been rejected.

Explaining the site’s history, planning documents stated: “The Ring O’ Bells public house was originally built in the early 1800s and was a building across Northwich Road from the existing pub at that time, called The Crown Inn.

“At the time, the present site of the public house was probably a barn, used for stabling horses.

“Later in the century, the public house moved across Northwich Road and became the Ring O’ Bells, and the original public house building became a house.

“There are many other public houses within reach, and the Ring O’ Bells became less popular.”

On the proposed future of the site, they went on to say: “The building fabric itself would be very hard and costly to renovate and there is serious damp and dry rot.

“It is proposed to construct a building at the back of the site with car parking in front of it, giving the village much more of an open effect and allowing the road to feel wider, with the existing building demolished.

“This will also create safer access and visibility splays when entering or exiting the site.

“The building will be used as one of the class E uses. This could be by way of a shop, café, restaurant, or offices, for example.

“It is hoped that this will also be a centre for the community, as the Ring O’ Bells was originally, and as the council wished the existing site to remain in some form of community usage.

“Serving all age groups, especially residents including the elderly without transport, it could be a place where the community comes together, which is why the new building would provide longevity.”

Plans concluded: “A small survey of residents has been undertaken, and the majority were not too worried about the Ring O’ Bells building being demolished.

“Since it has not been open for a while, they have already found other places to eat and drink.

“Residents were generally quite keen to have local and accessible amenities, and they noted it would or could create employment in the area.

“The council wished the existing site to remain in some form of community usage, and we believe that this application has met this.”

In refusing permission, the council said: “The proposed development fails to demonstrate safe and suitable access to the site, appropriate servicing arrangements for the building, adequate on-site car parking provision, and adequate pedestrian accessibility.

“Insufficient information has been submitted to allow an assessment of the potential impacts of the proposed development on the local highway network.

“The proposal would therefore result in unacceptable highway safety impacts within the site, and potentially adverse impacts on the safe operation of the local highway network.”

It also said: “Additional bat emergence surveys in relation to the existing public house building on the site are necessary to demonstrate that the proposed development will not adversely impact on any protected species.”

In addition, the decision notice states: “Insufficient information is provided within the application to demonstrate that the statutory requirement for the proposed development to achieve a 10 per cent biodiversity net gain can be achieved with trading rules satisfied.”