Genko, a property company based in Guernsey, has submitted a full planning application on green fields at Berehill on the northern edge of the small Hampshire town. Their proposals are for 115 houses, open space, workshops, pumping station and a public house, which they provisionally name The Bere Hill.
The rural town of Whitchurch is currently a target for speculative developers as the government sets ever higher housing numbers and there are already large housing schemes underway. Many believe this is over-development in a town known for its country setting and local heritage with campaigners' signs having appeared saying 'No to Genko'.
Unusual suggestion
A new public house within a housing area is an unusual suggestion in these particularly harsh times for the hospitality trade in which Whitchurch has experienced mixed fortunes.
Currently the town’s historic Red House is falling derelict, while several other pubs have closed in recent years. Proposals for new pubs in similar situations have also floundered at Augusta Park and Picket Twenty in Andover.
However some have flourished such as the Plough Inn at nearby Longparish which was bought by the local community and is going from strength to strength and the other pub in the same village, the Cricketers Inn, has recently re-opened to critical acclaim.
There is also a current application for a new bar and micro-brewery in nearby Overton but on the downside the Dove Inn at Micheldever is closing, although it is not expected to be permanent.
Suspicion
There is much suspicion that Genko have misread local needs and have included a pub to divert discussion away from the greater concerns surrounding the scale of their housing proposals.
The Campaign for Real Ale's local Pub Protection Officer said:
"A great many might prefer that Genko went away and didn’t build anything at all, and that customer support went to the existing excellent pubs – the Kings Arms, White Hart, Bell, Prince Regent and the Sports & Social Club – and along the road the Watership Down and in nearby local villages."
"A new pub is always welcome but whether this is a suitable location is extremely questionable".
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The planning application can be seen on Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council's planning portal, reference: 24/01949/FUL
https://planning.basingstoke.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=SINSZICRKKT00&activeTab=summary
