Rose & Crown, Aston

The Site

May 2021 saw the conclusion of one of our longest running planning sagas.

Located in the rural village of Aston to the east of Stevenage, The Rose and Crown and associated Barn, are Listed Buildings which had been left vacant for over 24 months until our clients purchased the site in 2016. Prior to this, the pub had a chequered history having struggled in a difficult trading environment with eleven different landlords in the previous ten years.

We were appointed towards the end of 2016 to develop a design and planning strategy to utilise the site for housing whilst maintaining a fully functioning micro-pub. After a lengthy gestation period we submitted an application in July 2017 and proceeded to engage with the Local Authority Planning and Conservation Officers concluding in an Officer Recommendation for Approval.

The project was taken to Planning Committee at East Herts District Council in March 2018 but was refused based on the strength of objections from local lobbyists.

It should be noted that the scheme was entirely Policy compliant and there were no arguments against the principle of the re-use of the site.

There then followed a series of applications, refusals, withdrawals and appeals culminating in the final, mid-pandemic, application in July 2020. It was decided to omit the pub from the application on the basis that the market would find its true value and that the Local Community would sustain its re-birth ….. if they were able!

After five years of effort, countless hours of resource, numerous revisions and compromises, permission was eventually granted in May 2021 for a modest new build scheme consisting of four new residential units on a highly sustainable location on a vacant site in the centre of a village with a still vacant pub.

We hope the village community can continue its interest in the pub and help the new owners finally make the Rose and Crown a success.