Brighton pub to become hostel if planners agree tomorrow

A Brighton pub is expected to become an 18-room hostel if planners approve an application due to be decided tomorrow (Wednesday 27 August).

The applicant, Tim Martin, who runs Tim Martin Interiors, of Adelaide Crescent, Hove, wants to convert the three-storey Toby Inn, in Cowley Drive, Woodingdean.

The pub, on the corner of Green Lane, was closed in 2006 when Brighton and Hove City Council revoked the licence at the request of Sussex Police after a series of complaints.

Since 2009 the building has been used only for private functions but this has proved unprofitable.

The Toby Inn in Woodingdean – Photo by Hassocks5489 via Wikimedia Commons

A report to members of the council’s Planning Committee recommends granting permission subject to conditions.

The report said that planning permission was being sought for extensions and alterations to the existing building. These included creating an extra floor.

Two similar planning applications have been turned down although any hope of keeping a pub on the ground floor has been given up and the roof alterations have been redesigned.

Nine letters of objection have been received from neighbours in Cowley Drive, Ainsworth Avenue, Broad Green, Stanstead Crescent and Sycamore Close.

The reasons include concerns about the principle of the pub being turned into a hostel and a belief that the premises should be used for housing if not as a pub.

Councillor Dee Simson, who represents Woodingdean, has also objected to the application. She said that it wasn’t clear what type of hostel it would be and had concerns about the scale, design and potential overlooking.

She said that there were insufficient kitchen, catering and laundering facilities for the number of units.

Councillor Simson also said: “This part of Woodingdean lost an important community facility when the pub closed and any development there should include this valuable amenity.”

The report to the Planning Committee said: “The loss of the public house use on the site is acceptable, given the history of anti-social behaviour at the pub, the lack of viability of a pubic house use and the lack of interest from prospective tenants.”

The application is due to be decided when the Planning Committee meets tomorrow at Hove Town Hall.

The meeting starts at 2pm and is open to the public. It will also be webcast. View it here.

To read the report to the Planning Committee, click here.