Somerset pub conversion plans approved on third attempt

Somerset Council approved plans on June 29 for the former White Hart Inn at Corfe, despite several former planning applications for the site which were denied.

The application, submitted on December 12 2025 by Corfe Estates Ltd, is for the change of use of the public house and beer store into three dwellings, with landscaping and car parking, and the demolition of outbuildings and the skittle alley.

The site sits within the village of Corfe in the Blackdown Hills National Landscape and in the Somerset Levels.

Council planning officers found that the previous pub business was no longer viable and failed to sell at auction (Image: Harry Mockridge)

Planning permission granted after multiple refusals

The two-storey pub building will be converted into two homes, with a third created in the detached store. Eight parking spaces, including visitor bays, are to be laid out in the reshaped car park.

In recent years there have been several rejected proposals for transforming the site, which has sat empty since 2020.

In March 2024, the owners applied to convert the property to a 10-bedroom inn for holiday lets, which was refused in May 2024. A separate application made at the same time to build two new dwellings at the site was also refused.

In March 2025 the owners applied to create new residential dwellings at the site and change the use of the pub, which was later withdrawn. And in October 2025 the owners applied again, with the plans refused in November last year.

The new approval removed the new-build elements in previous proposals and focuses on re-using the existing buildings, which the council report says "maintain the traditional character" of the site and avoid the "cramped" feel of earlier plans.

The White Hart has been 'temporarily closed' since 2020 (Image: Harry Mockridge)

Why have locals objected to the plans?

According to comments submitted on the council's planning portal, Corfe Parish Council maintained strong opposition and requested the application be refused. The Parish council have previously claimed the closure in 2020 was "due mainly to COVID" and inexperienced leaseholders, and insisted that earlier operators had "successfully run the pub for 15 years solid" with a trade from locals, cyclists, walkers, and skittle teams.

Nine objections by local residents were raised to the council, citing concerns about the loss of a community facility, claimed the pub had been poorly marketed, and concerns about a lack of community engagement from the owners.

Somerset county councillor Sarah Wakefield, representing Blackdown and Neroche, also objected to the plans. Councillor Wakefield said: "The public house has not been properly available for occupation by any interested tenant as it has been allowed to fall into such a state of disrepair."

The Councillor also raised fears that retained land behind the pub could be used for future buildings. The land behind the pub has been sold separately and is not included in the planning application.

Applicants say keeping the pub open is no longer viable

In the planning officer's report, Somerset Council noted that the White Hart Inn business "is not viable and has had no takers when marketed and put to public auction," and therefore, the residential conversion can be approved.

Accounts presented in planning documents submitted to Somerset Council showed the previous business sustained losses of over £27,000 in the year ending November 2020, with "no evidence of other companies trading profitably on the site to demonstrate viability."

Financial evidence submitted on behalf of the applicant claimed that the White Hart Inn sustained total losses of over £556,000 between May 2005 and November 2020.

The pub has been marketed since May 2023 for around 17 months and taken to public auction in October 2024, but failed to reach the £150,000 reserve price or attract a suitable offer.

The applicant's viability statement adds that the pub "has not made a profit in the last 20 years," and faced competition from nearby businesses. The owners note the site would require major refurbishment after disrepair, following the 'squatting' of unauthorised inhabitants and the theft of wiring and pipework from the premises.

When approving the scheme, the council found the three homes meet the space and amenity standards for residential use, and will generate Community Infrastructure Levy funds of around £64,000.