Planning inspector visits The Crown
An officer from the Planning Inspectorate in Bristol visited The Crown in Ollands Road, Reepham, on Monday 16 December.
He was accompanied by a representative of the owners Punch Taverns and a member of the Monk family, who have lodged an appeal against Broadland District Council’s decision not to grant planning permission for conversion of the public house to a private dwelling.
The visit lasted about 20 minutes, during which time the visiting party viewed the premises. It coincided with a charity coffee morning being held in The Crown to raise money for a defibrillator.
The pub was packed with about 50 regulars, who enjoyed the free coffee, tea, pasties and sausage rolls and whose donations raised £95, in addition to the £166 that had been raised at the lively charity bingo the previous evening.
At the end of the inspection, the inspector explained that the regulations did not allow him to take representations and questions, but he assured everyone that everything written previously in support of The Crown would be taken into consideration by the Planning Inspectorate.
He believed a decision will be announced no later than February 2014. Reepham will have to wait another couple of months before it knows the fate of The Crown, which has been serving Reepham as a traditional “local” for more than 150 years.
Mike Cowdrey
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