Village pub to become house after appeal
BBCA developer has won an appeal to convert a former village pub into a house after the business was deemed "no longer viable".
The Grade II listed Bridge Inn at Whorlton, near Barnard Castle in County Durham, was built in the 1800s but has been shut since 2023.
Residents fighting to protect it claimed the closure of the village's suspension bridge in 2019 had reduced visitor numbers to the area, affecting trade at the pub.
But a government planning inspector said, while they appreciated local support for the pub and its importance in village life, it had suffered profitability issues long before Whorlton Bridge closed.
Durham County Council turned down Ivan Carter-Becker's bid to convert the pub into a residential property in July 2025, claiming the owners had not proved it could still be a viable business.
However, Carter-Becker said the business has faced "significant economic changes and challenges since 2019" and no new operator had been found for the pub despite several viewings, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
He said the conversion would "allow for the retention and constructive reuse" of the building.
The planning inspector said claims that the suspension bridge closure contributed to the pub's demise were "overstated and unsupported by any evidence".
"The appellant is losing rent, has had a listed period building to maintain and has sustained high costs associated with tenancy turnover for the last twenty years," they said.
"Even if I agreed that the bridge closure is directly responsible for the inability of the Inn to operate as a viable business, it seems unrealistic to expect any business to weather that kind of loss over such a long period without wishing to pursue a new business plan."
Durham County Council was also ordered to pay costs to the developer following the appeal.
