Group will fight plans to develop old Codsall Wood pub site
A campaign was today launched against controversial plans to demolish a well-known South Staffordshire pub and replace it with a housing development.
The proposals for the Cross Guns pub site, in Codsall Wood, have been described as "deplorable".
Tatton Hall Homes has submitted a planning application to South Staffordshire District Council to knock down the landmark pub, which shut earlier this year and has been surrounded by security fencing ever since. It would then create 10 homes on the site.
Concerns about its redevelopment have been raised by the Wolverhampton branch of The Campaign For Real Ale. (CAMRA)
Developers behind the plans said the scheme would allow the site to make an "active contribution" to the village.
But members of CAMRA are opposing the plans. Ian Stringer, chairman of the group's Wolverhampton branch, said: "I think it's deplorable to knock down such a well-known pub. Surely it could be used as something like a community centre rather than just demolishing it.
"Pubs are closing each week and more should be done to keep them going.
"Before long we will only be able to get beer at supermarkets, the way things are going."
Speaking on behalf of the developers, Otto De Weijer, of Dutch Architecture and Design, said: "Over the past decade the former Cross Guns has changed tenants many times in an effort to improve the commercial viability of the pub. The pub is currently vacant and has been sold to the applicant.
"It is hoped that with the proposed redevelopment that the site will be reformed to form an attractive contribution to the village rather than being an underused, deteriorating building which occupies a very prominent position."
Codsall North councillor Matthew Ewart said it was a once a "highly regarded traditional country pub" but added: "It has a wonderful history but you got the impression it was hanging on by its fingernails recently."
