East Riding pub given second chance as councillors defer plans to turn it into homes

The owner of the Bosville Arms in Rudston insists it is not economically viable, but the parish council disagrees saying it is the “heart of the community” and claiming it could be a viable business opportunity.

At a meeting of the Eastern Eastern Area Planning Committee, ward councillors Jane Evison and Jonathan Owen joined objector Ian Simmonds to make the case to retain the pub.

The ward councillors welcomed the decision to defer, which came against the officers' recommendation, saying it would give them time to explore with residents the opportunity of making it an asset of community value.

Rudston is famed for its giant monolith said to be the tallest standing stone in the UK. It is also close to the Thorpe Hall caravan site.

Coun Evison said: "The impact of the loss of the local pub to a community is huge and frankly the Bosville Arms has so much going for it in relation to its position on the side of a main road, good car parking, it serves a village of 400 residents and is on a main tourist route.

"I am delighted the planning committee have given us just a little more time to work with the local community to explore the possibility of making the Bosville Arms an asset of community value and stop another village pub being lost.

"Fellow ward councillors and I will now be calling a public meeting to investigate what support and advice we can provide to help save the Bosville Arms.”

Coun Owen said: “We hear all the time of pubs closing, however, with a little innovation, moving with the times, many village pubs are still able to survive.

"It is a bit of a stay of execution and it will be down to the community if they really want to do something, there are options they can explore."

It came after the Campaign for Real Ale highlighted around a dozen pubs in the East Riding that have either had approval to turn into houses or are in the process of doing so in recent times.