White Horse pub in Milford to be converted into homes after New Forest District Council approval
THE go-ahead has been given to convert a derelict Grade II listed Milford pub as part of a five-home development.
The White Horse on Keyhaven Road has been vacant since the departure of its former landlord in early 2018, and the watering hole and its extensive rear garden were subsequently sold by Enterprise Inns.
The plan by Stoneriver Projects Ltd, approved by New Forest District Council, will see the pub transformed into two three-bedroom dwellings, while newer additions to the building will be removed and four parking spaces created.
In the former garden to the rear will go three more homes comprising two two-bedroom properties and one three-bed home, all with home offices, plus parking.
An NFDC report said: "The planning balance on this occasion is that given the public benefits that would result to the listed building along with other planning considerations that have been set out, including the lack of five-year housing land supply and the National Planning Policy Framework tilted balance that is engaged, the balance falls in favour of the granting of planning permission."
The proposal had the support of Milford Parish Council, which backed the design and called it an "appropriate level of development for the site".
Two local residents were for the scheme, with two against.
The NFDC report acknowledged concerns expressed by the council's conservation officer as to whether the scheme maintained a sense of openness to the rear of the White Horse or responded to the historic interest of the building as a former public house.
But it said the impact was "less than substantial harm to the setting of the listed building" and was offset "by the removal of unsympathetic extensions to the listed building, with associated repairs which would enhance both the listed building and its setting".
The pub, which is just within the Milford Conservation Area, faced being delisted as an Asset of Community Value as it was more than five years since it was added to the list. Stoneriver also offered to pay £63,604 in developers' contributions.
