YEOVIL NEWS: Flats plan for eyesore Milford Inn building

PLANS have been unveiled to convert the former Milford Inn in Yeovil - which has fallen into disrepair and become an eyesore - into nine flats.

Kevin Lake, a director of Somerset Care and Repair Ltd, has submitted to South Somerset District Council a planning application for the conversion of the pub in Milford Road into nine “residential units.”

The pub closed its doors for the final time in 2012 and was bought by Somerset Care and Repair who want to transform the existing building into nine self-contained flats with parking for 14 cars under the Government’s Empty Homes scheme.

PHOTO - TOP: The former Milford Inn pub in Yeovil.

PHOTO - RIGHT: The outline of the Milford Inn site in Milford Road, Yeovil.

Dathan Trent, of the applicant’s agents, Della Valle Architects of Shepton Mallet, said in a report: “During the time the property was vacant it was subject to acts of vandalism, graffiti and arson, with the plot of land to the rear becoming substantially overgrown and becoming known as a dumping ground.

“The site as it stands today has been allowed to deteriorate into an eyesore and is now in desperate need of restoration and renovation.”

The plans include three one-bedroom, four two-bedroom and two three-bedroom flats. A decision is not expected to be made on the application until October 3, 2014.

PHOTO - RIGHT: Steps leading to rear access viewed from flat roof above.

The pub was first built in 1949 with the skittle alley later given the go-ahead in 1954. It served the community for many years as a pub and B&B facility, but during the ten-15 year period up to 2007 there was a significant decline in trading.

This combined with the indoor smoking ban made the business unsustainable financially.

Proposals to bulldoze the pub and replace it with a new building of 13-flats was given permission by the council – despite concerns by neighbours.

The planning approval was granted again in 2011, but the business continued to run until it finally called “last orders” in 2012.

The Milford Inn was put up for sale and bought recently by Somerset Care and Repair Ltd which is run as a not-for-profit organisation to provide a range of housing-related services to help people stay independent in their own homes.

The organisation has so far brought back into use 18 “empty” properties in the Mendip and South Somerset areas.

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