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Plans to make historic pub flats are dumped

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Published Date: 05 February 2009
By Robert Fairburn
ONE of the country's oldest pubs has been saved from being turned into flats by the Scottish Government.
A public inquiry took place last year into the proposals for the 17th century Crook Inn at Tweedsmuir, Peeblesshire.

The owner, James Doonan, had appealed against Scottish Borders Council's decision to refuse planning permission to create a house and four flats on the site. But the inquiry reporter backed the council.

The decision brings to an end a long-running wrangle over the plans for the former coaching inn, which dates back to 1604, and has been greeted with delight by locals as it is the only pub for 20 miles.

Last night Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale MP David Mundell welcomed the decision by the Scottish Government reporter.

He said: "This inn is too important to the community to be lost and the outcome is a great victory for everyone who campaigned to save it – they have my warmest congratulations."

The inn was the setting for a work by Robert Burns.

In four cruel verses entitled Sic A Wife As Willie Had Burns lampoons the ugly wife of a Borders weaver, referring to her rotten teeth and how her chin and nose threaten each other.





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  • Last Updated: 04 February 2009 9:54 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Robert Burns
 
1

Selgovae,

05/02/2009 08:43:55
The inn will now be converted into a historic ruin at no cost to the taxpayer.
2

Jacqueline Hyde ,

On the shelf 05/02/2009 11:08:26
Presumably the council doesn't want to lose its rates income and all the exhorbitant fees it grabs for all the various licences that a pub requires these days.

Will the "locals" who are greeting the decision with delight start patronising the pub? I doubt it. The government, aided and abetted by the councils, has been hammering nails into the wet trade coffin for years and we are seeing the consequences all over the country.

If it isn't viable as a pub and isn't allowed to be converted to residential accommodation, I suspect Selovae's prediction is pretty accurate.
3

bill-alba,

fife 05/02/2009 14:24:12
#2 If I remember correctly there were offers to buy the pub and keep it as a pub but the owner wanted to maximise him profit by converting it to flats..
4

Kate-Solomon,

Scottish Borders 06/02/2009 11:29:34
The pub had been running as a viable business for four hundred years until Mr Doonan bought it. He deliberately ran the business into the ground and then put in a planning application to change the inn into flats. It was a case of making a quick buck, despite the effect on an isolated rural community. The council and the government should be congratulated for their part in saving the business.

I think it unlikely the pub will turn into a ruin. The community have put together a right-to-buy bid and are trying to raise funds to buy the pub back. I understand that some other parties have shown interest in buying the pub, but any offers have so far been rejected by Mr Doonan.

Here's hoping that everyone can walk out of this happy. The Crook Inn is a wonderful venue, and I've enjoyed some great times there over the years.

 

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