Second bid to demolish pub and build apartment block refused

It’s the second failed application put forward to develop The Boatman’s Rest pub by applicant AK & RK Ltd.

The latest proposals would have seen the closed High Street pub flattened and replaced with a block of nine one-bedroom apartments, six two-bedroom apartments, 15 car parking spaces, a bicycle rack and landscaping. 

Vehicular access to the complex would have been from St John’s Close, adjacent to Walsall Wood High Street.

Walsall Council’s planning officers refused permission for the development this time round due to it resulting in a loss of non-designated heritage assets, overdevelopment with lack of amenity space, lack of affordable housing within the proposals, lack of information put forward regarding the development’s impact on highways, and the development resulting in the loss of an ash tree with a protection order on site. 

The application also failed to provide any mitigation for the effect it would have on Cannock Chase Special Area of Conservation, required by all developments within 15km of the beauty spot. Plus the applicant failed to agree to pay a sum of £34,358 for open space contributions which are required by applicants when a development doesn’t have enough open space on site. 

A similar proposal to pull down the pub and replace it with an apartment block – described as a ‘monolithic pile of bricks’ – was submitted last year but also refused. The reasons for refusal included loss of a non-designated heritage asset, over-development of the site and impact on traffic.

The Boatman’s Rest was serving customers until the pandemic forced the business to close its doors in 2020. Since then, the Victorian building has lay vacant.