A popular pub garden could be built over by a developer who is submitting more plans to put a house on it.
An application to build a two storey, three-bedroom home would create an end of terrace home next to The Hanover pub in Down Terrace, Brighton.
A previous application by Graderich, which owns the plot and the pub itself, was approved in 2018.
The plans have now been resubmitted because that permission expired in October 2021.
Planning agent Triptych PD says the delays were due to covid lockdowns and the applicant’s priorities.
The planning application states: “This application is an exact replica of the approved case BH2018/02267.
“The reason for the resubmission is that the permission has expired without the discharge of the relevant pre-commencement conditions and was therefore not lawfully implemented within the three-year timeframe (October 2021).”
The plans detail a basement and ground floor home, with access to a garden and terrace.
Graderich were originally given permission to knock the pub down and build nine houses on the site in 2002.
Only three houses were built, on most of what was then the pub’s large beer garden.
A variation on the permission was sought in 2018 to rework the plans to create back gardens for the homes which were not built.
In 2018, the Pearce family which owns Graderich said they were adjusting the permissions in case Indigo Leisure, which runs The Hanover, decided to stop operating it as a pub.
Laura Marshall director at Triptych PD said: “The application has been submitted simply as the last expired without being implemented – the process is such that all pre-commencement conditions must be approved by the planning department before a planning permission can be lawfully implemented.
“No applications were made for the approval/discharge of the pre-commencement conditions – this was primarily due to much of the intervening period being in the various lockdowns and whilst construction could take place in the majority of this time (if the pre-commencement conditions had been discharged), this project was not a priority for the applicant.
“This application relates only to this particular piece of land and is privately owned by the applicant and has not been used as part of The Hanover’s function, which is in separate ownership, for a number of years.”
Brighton and Hove’s construction blueprint, City Plan Part Two, has a provision to save city pubs from being converted or demolished by requiring strong evidence that a pub is no longer viable before it can be converted.
However, it is unclear whether this will affect the Down Terrace site as permission has already been granted for the former pub garden land previously.
Indigo Pubs, which owns The Hanover, has been approached for comment.
You can find the full application on the planning portal by searching for BH2022/03170.
