Pub housing plan is approved

Members of Walsall Council’s planning committee approved the proposal to knock down the old White Horse pub on Whitehorse Road to make way for four three-bedroom houses and two flats, at a meeting on Thursday.

The decision was made without debate because no-one had registered to speak out either in favour of or against the plans.

Applicants said the pub had stood empty for more than 12 months after a string of tenants had tried but failed to make a go of the pub as a business and had also left the site a target for anti-social behaviour.

When the news of these plans emerged, residents and former patrons took to social media – most notably the popular Brownhills Bob Facebook page – to lament the downfall of the White Horse and sharing memories of when they or family members used to drink in there.

But others also commented on how many pubs had bitten the dust and urged people to use the ones they have got or lose them completely.

When a scheme was first proposed for the White Horse, it included plans for a shop and this prompted a raft of objections. Now the retail element has been dropped and the application approved unanimously.

In the application, agents Oakham Design said: “The existing public house is let on a tenancy basis due to the very poor turnover of the business there have been several tenants within a small period all leaving without payment of rent and returning a loss.

“The property suffers from anti-social disturbance with the police attending on a regular basis.

“Given these historic problems with the property it will not be a viable financial proposition to provide an alternative facility.”