A fire at the Jack O’Lantern pub in September 2020 destroyed the roof and left the rest of the building badly damaged but in 2022 an application to demolish it was refused by planning officers who objected to the loss of the pub.
The 1950s built pub Daiglen Drive, is near to homes and the Derwent Parade shops and the council said it was keen to keep pubs as “community facilities”.
However, developer Burney New Development Ltd, has convinced the council the pub is no longer a viable option and an application to demolish the pub and replace it with a block of 17 flats has been approved.
The developer engaged a specialist agency to assess the need for a pub on this site. Strettons firmly concluded the need for a pub in this location was “negligible” and funding to build a new pub would be “very difficult and expensive to secure”.
The council received three letters against the proposal. Concerns raised included a lack of parking provision and NHS facilities in the area. Residents also feared it would overlook their properties and “out of keeping with what’s there”.
Michelle Cox of Annalee Road South Ockendon, said: “There is not enough parking on the site, it doesn’t take in to account extra cars and visitors. The surrounding area has issues with car parking from the village hall on Saturday nights with cars blocking spaces all across the nearby roads.
The flats will overlook surrounding properties especially the gardens behind the pub now. What we need is a building that gives back to the community such as a GP, dentist or a health centre as everyone is struggling to get appointments for doctors or the dentist.”
However, in their report, planning officers said: “Any loss of a premises such as this which could be used for community purposes would be regrettable. However, in this instance the building was seriously damaged by fire more than four years ago, there has been no evidence that the previous operator wanted to reopen the facility, or he would have done so.”
“The building has not been maintained and is in a very poor condition. The market for pubs has changed markedly over recently years and pubs are closing at a significant rate – there are other pubs within reasonable distance in the local area.”