THE owners of a former Forest pub have lost the latest round in a long-running battle with the Forest Council over their plans for it.

Worthy Developments appealed against a decision by the council to refuse permission to extend the first floor above the Rising Sun in Woodcroft to create two flats to be sold on the open market.

But planning inspector David Wyborn rejected the appeal in part on the grounds that the development could make it more difficult to re-open the pub, which the council has registered as a community asset.

In another blow to the owners, Mr Wyborn also rejected their application for the council to pay the costs of the appeal on the grounds that the authority had acted unreasonably.

Mr Wyborn concluded that while the proposals wouldn’t harm the character of the building or the area, overall the plans “could potentially put this community asset in jeopardy”.

He also decided that a neighbouring property could be overlooked from one of the windows and there would be an unacceptable impact on highway safety on the main Coleford to Chepstow road.

While the proposal has been formulated to retain the pub, Mr Wyborn said that not having accommodation for a manager would make it less attractive to potential operators.

He said that while the pub is shut at present, if it were to re-open with the two flats occupied there was the potential for complaints from the residents which could lead to restrictions on how the pub operates.

Mr Wyborn concluded: “Consequently, there is the potential that the introduction of the independent residential uses on the first floor could jeopardise the full-scale operation of the public house use in the future.”

In applying for costs, the owners said that if the council had engaged with them over eight years of addressing issues and considerable design changes, the appeal would not have been necessary.

They also claimed there had been “no effort” by the council to address the matter of overlooking which could have been sorted when the planning application was first made.

They also said that the refusal on the grounds of access was not supported by clear evidence.

The council argued that refusing the plans on the basis of the impact on character and appearance and on living conditions were matters of judgement and it was not unreasonable to decide it as it had been submitted.

The application was decided within the eight week limit and a difference of opinion was not the same as unreasonable behaviour, said the council.

Dismissing the costs claim, Mr Wyborn said while he disagreed with the council’s assessment on the impact on character that was not evidence of unreasonable behaviour and other reasons for refusal were sound.

Michelle Hayes, chair of the Save Our Sun campaign group, which is fighting to reopen the pub after a nine-year closure, said: “We are delighted with the inspectorate decision which means that the pub, which is listed as an asset of community value until 2024, can now only be used as a pub and not sold as a residential property.

“We hope that the owners will now either refurbish the pub and open it as such or sell it to the community who dearly would like to bring back our only remaining community asset to become a community hub and breathe life back to the village and surrounding area.

“We will continue our campaign until one of these outcomes happens.”