From the https://www.kentonline.co.uk By Alex Jee, 17 August 2022.

The Crown Inn, Stone in Oxney near Tenterden, to become homes under plans.

A 300-year-old country pub could be converted into homes under new plans.

Furious residents have hit out over an application to convert The Crown Inn near Tenterden.

The Stone in Oxney pub, which also included a two-room Bed and Breakfast, closed in 2016.

Having changed ownership several times since the turn of the century, it shut after unsuccessfully turning into a bistro-style restaurant.

The buildings in question include the pub itself as well as an annexed garage on the property that has been converted into living quarters, along with a wood shelter.

These will be turned into two separate houses, each with car parking spaces, bicycle storage and recreation space, with the shelter becoming a summer house / home office.

Plans submitted to Ashford Borough Council propose turning the pub building itself into a "generous five bedroom dwelling" with the aid of a two-storey extension.

The pub's last incarnation was as an up-market bistro.

The pub's front entrance on the junction of Catt’s Hill and The Street would be replaced with a new window and the entrance from the car park would be used as the new main door.

Meanwhile, the converted garage would be extended to become a larger, one-bedroom house, with the shelter-turned-summer-house included in the grounds.

The plans have been received poorly in the village, with numerous residents saying that the area needs the pub to return.

The Street homeowner John Morgan said that he was "disgusted at the thought" of the plans.

"That pub used to be the social hub of the entire village and beyond, and it can be again if it is done in the right way," he explained.

The business closed permanently in 2016.

The building's south entrance would become the new main door.

"There is nowhere else for us to go if we want to have a drink and socialise.

"The nearest pub is the "Ferry Inn," but you can't drive there if you want to drink and you would never want to walk that road at night.

Before plans were submitted, the pub was listed on the market in April 2020, but received no bids towards the £495,000 price tag.

Daniel Lyward, chair of Stone-cum-Ebony Parish Council, said that the sale was "unrealistic" and was never likely to happen.

"The timing is very questionable given it was just weeks after lockdown started – all pubs in the country had to close by law," he said.

The plans have prompted fury among residents.

"A potential purchaser would find it extremely difficult to gain a mortgage at such a time, or risk such an investment not knowing when they might be allowed to reopen.

"It was a fine pub not so long ago. Running profitably, serving the local community, with walkers on the Saxon Shore Way providing a steady foot fall of thirsty and hungry passers by.

"Families were once welcomed, and our whole community felt it had a place to go. Without our local, we lose what in countless ways can rightly be called the hub of the village."