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From the
https://www.kentonline.co.uk By Katie May Nelson, 18 July 2022.
Battle to convert Lord Duncan pub in New Road, Chatham.
A developer looking to convert a historic pub into a House of Multiple
Occupancy (HMO) says planning red tape means the building is rotting
away and costing him thousands.
Medway Council is taking a the government Planning Inspector who allowed
plans to redevelop the long-empty Lord Duncan pub in Chatham to court
after officers rejected the plans.
The former boozer in New Road has been vacant since 1974 and is Grade-II
listed.
James Mills, who runs Maidstone-based CKE Homes Ltd, purchased the
property in March 2020 with a view to turning it into a 10-bed HMO with
two kitchens and a laundry room.
Permission was initially refused by the council in April 2021.
Officers believed internal and external alterations had already been
made without planning consent, however, according to a report presented
to the authority's planning committee, Mr Mills told them he found it
had been stripped of all internal finishes upon purchase.
The council's planning department concluded the internal alterations
would be "unsympathetic and unnecessarily harmful to the significance of
the listed building".
The authority had also issued an enforcement notice. The planning
permission refusal was overturned by a planning inspector.
The long empty Lord Duncan pub in Chatham (57991035)
The council then sought a judicial review to challenge their decision,
which is due to happen in December.
A judicial review happens when the lawfulness of a public authority is
challenged.
Permission was granted by the inspector in November which gives Mr Mills
until May 2023 to complete the work before planning permission runs out.
But doing any work in the meantime could prove costly in the long run,
as Mr Mills explained.
He said: "We can't do any work on the property really because if we did
and it was overturned, it's all got to be ripped out and put to how it
was originally.
"My biggest concern is how much Medway Council is paying of taxpayers'
money on it.
"Since the first planning application I've spent over £90,000.
"My issue is that if I win, I still don't get any costs back and if I
lose, I have to pay Medway Council.
Listed Building Enforcement Notices allow councils to compel a developer
to bring the building to its former state.
He added: "I haven't had a delay on it, the clock is still running. The
hearing will be December 6, we won't get an answer on the day we are
probably looking at February time.
"I then have four months for complete refurbishment, including
structural works, re-tiling the roof, re-cladding the building,
rebuilding the rear wall, everything.
The long empty Lord Duncan pub in Chatham (57991038)
I have got to do all of that in four months which is impossible. Their
concern was there was too much structural work changing what was inside
the listed building and the format of it.
"They are basically forcing me to not do any work. They are not allowing
me to start a single piece of work. Every time it rains, the roof takes
in water.
"The building gets more and more rotten every time it rains and takes in
water.
"It's a little bit embarrassing for me because everyone that knows me,
knows that when I buy something, it happens immediately.
"If I was allowed to work on this, it would have been decorated now and
people could move in in two weeks time.
"By the time anything could happen, I would imagine it will be this time
next year."
Medway Council said it was unable to comment further as the case was
pending.
It is believed to have been built during the late 1700s and was named
after Admiral Duncan of the Royal Navy.
He led a force which defeated the Dutch fleet off Camperdown and Egmont
in 1795.
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