Punch Pubs and Co, has today confirmed it no longer owns the Compasses at Holbrook after selling it to property developers.

Despite Punch being names as the site owners on a Babergh planning application, Nub News can reveal, the pub group sold the building and adjoining car park to Lexden Homes (Colchester) Ltd, based in Essex last May, for a figure understood to be around £475,000.

A planning application has subsequently been made by a West Sussex based planning consult and agent, on behalf of a Hampshire-based company, for a change of use to form three residential dwellings, ncluding external staircase, and erection of two chalet bungalows, including parking and hard and soft landscaping.

Compasses street plan (Picture: CPC)

Agent Jake Russell from Bosham planning consultants CPC, made the application on behalf of Portsmouth-registered Cordage Estates Limited,

The new development would see the loss of the pub, beer garden and car park, and would be replaced by a one-bedroom home and four three-bedroom units in total.

An outbuilding would be demolished to provide a private garden to Unit 1,

The agent claims converting the Compasses' building, rather than demolishing it and rebuilding ensures that the non-designated heritage asset is preserved for future generations and ensures that embodied carbon within the fabric of the building is retained in situ, minimising the carbon footprint of the proposed development.

Mr Russell pointed out The Compasses Inn ceased trading in Autumn 2020, is vacant due to the business being unviable and currently sits economically inactive.

The property has been actively marketed since November 2020. The schedule of accommodation for the dwellings is as follows:

Compasses site plan (Picture: CPC)

He claimed that the Compasses was not a viable business prior to ceasing trading in Autumn 2020 and that it has been marketed for a period 22 months, as well as referencing the superior facilities available to residents at facilities such as the nearby Swan public house.

Mr Russell said: "It is therefore concluded that the reuse of an economically inactive site and building to provide much-needed family housing in a highly sustainable Core Village should be supported by the local planning authority (Babergh) in principle."

It was revealed in the design statement that an offer was at £462,500 made on the proviso that planning permission for the change of use would be obtained to convert the premises to residential use.

Estate agents Savills have confirmed that the offer was from a local developer who confirmed their intended use of the site by email.

Car park will be built on

According to the applicants, it was also estimated the total capital investment required to enable the business to trade competitively and maintain a commercial sustainable level of trade (excluding any structural work and repairs) would be around £700,000 – meaning that as the property has been valued at £500,000, any pub operator would be looking at a risky capital investment of £1.2m, with no guarantee of a return.

The only users since 2020 appear to be individual brown long-eared bats and common pipistrelle bats that occasionally use the property as a day-time roost.