The White Swan at Thornton-le-Clay: Previous landlords say Yorkshire pub was 'clearly viable' before new owner applied to turn it into a five-bedroom home

The appeal hearing concerning Ryedale District Council’s rejection of the owner’s plans to convert the village pub into a five-bedroom family home was convened yesterday in order to gather further evidence and information.

Following the pub’s closure in 2020, it was purchased by Richard Harrison who planned to convert it into a dwelling, but hundreds of residents have campaigned for the property to remain as a pub.

The council states that the conversion application was refused “because it was considered that the proposed change of use of the public house would result in the loss of a valued local community facility”.

The district council has also listed the property as an Asset of Community Value and locals are hoping to run the pub through community groups. However, those wishing to convert the pub say the group’s plans are not realistic and the council’s decision should be overturned.

At the appeal hearing, representations were made by various parties including the Save Our Swan (SOS) group, local business owners, the district council, and the Harrisons, who purchased the property in 2020 for £450,000.

Much of the hearing was focused on determining viability, impact on the community, and compliance with local policy.

A statement submitted by the SOS group makes the argument that there is a “demonstrable need” for the property to remain as a pub which it says allows for interaction and social cohesion in the community.

The group also said: “As part of our submission, we have included results from the community survey which was returned by 566 people, the vast majority (96 per cent) of whom wished to keep the pub open, as a facility to support, not only the local custom, but also serve as a destination dining pub for the wider area.”

However, the appellants argued that conversion of the property into a dwelling would not adversely affect the village, with other community buildings acting as meeting places. They also suggested that pubs in nearby villages would still be accessible to locals.

At the appeal hearing, James Cleary spoke on behalf of the previous landlady, Julie Duck and her husband Mike Duck, who had run the pub since 2016.

They said: “We had a thriving village pub with a great reputation for food and drink and we were proud that we had the highest combined TripAdvisor and Google scores for any pub in the area.

“We had worked hard to achieve this and to see it lost due to the misguided actions of the appellants is soul-destroying for us. We really hope that The White Swan is once again able to play its part in the local community.”

They added: “The White Swan was clearly viable and we were prepared to invest heavily in the purchase of the freehold.”

A decision on the appeal is expected to be made next week.