A Dale couple claim their retirement project of reopening a village pub is being thwarted by county planners.
Jason and Paula Forrest bought Winston’s Bridgewater Arms two years ago, initially hoping to lease it out.
The former restaurant and pub has been closed since the Covid pandemic.
Mr Forrest said: “We had four enquiries, and they all said the same thing – it’s too much to run and the living accommodation is no good.”
The current accommodation is a two-bedroom flat upstairs which is accessed through the commercial kitchen. The couple aim to extend the building to create a four-bedroom home and to run the business themselves.
Part of the building is Grade II listed and was a former school built in 1851 but has an existing extension which houses the flat and commercial kitchen.
Pre-planning advice they received from Durham County Council’s planning department suggested it would likely be approved but the extension should be scaled back.
Initially Mrs Forrest was making the planning application herself.
She said: “You just can’t get someone to speak to. It was horrible. I wanted someone to sit down with me and for them to say there are the forms. I have never had a single conversation with anyone except the people who answer the phone.”
Her husband added: “The planners should be bending over backwards to get us open.”
The couple then employed consultant Maria Ferguson to do the application but she too has been struggling because of queries relating to “minor” issues such as the sizes of the moved kitchen and bar counter.”
However, the couple say the type of food they are offering does not require a large commercial kitchen and by moving the bar counter into a snug, it will face customers in both the front and back rooms.
Mr Forrest said: “Since when are they (planners) experts in how to run a business?”
The final straw came when the couple’s agent was told to withdraw the application and reapply because it had passed its expiry date.
She has since written to planning bosses to complain about the service.
Durham County Council acknowledged the couple’s frustration at the time it has taken to process the application, but says not all of the information required was provided in time.
Planning manager Stephen Reed said: “We appreciate the frustrations over the progress of this application, and we are meeting with the planning consultant to help resolve any outstanding issues.
“While we accept that this matter has not progressed as quickly as we would have hoped, we would also note that the original application did not include all the required information to allow it to be decided within the target timescale.”
