Flats plans signal last orders for another Chorley pub

Plans have been submitted to turn the former Eagle Hotel on Bolton Street into five self-contained flats.

The pub, which is on the edge of the town centre, has been vacant for around two years.

If the application is given the go ahead, an area which, in recent years, once had several pubs just a stone’s throw from each other, will now be down to just one.

The Wagon and Horses, Bolton Street, was turned into flats. The Albion in Bolton Street, closed and was turned into business premises while the Eagle and Child, Pall Mall, and the Borough Arms, Bolton Street have been demolished;

Others in the area disappeared a good number of years ago.

Now just the Duke of York, Bolton Street, remains open.

A planning statement in support of the application – which has been sent to Chorley Council’s planning department by a Mr L Giruc, of Lucas Property Solutions Ltd - states that the proposed development would:

Redevelop a vacant building and bring into a viable use.

Result in development that would not harm the character of the area.

Result in a development that is sustainably located and would not harm existing local or residential amenity.

Provide five residential flats that would contribute towards the borough’s housing supply.

The statement also adds that the development would bring economic, social and environmental benefits.

Regarding the economic viability of the site, the statement adds: “The Eagle Public House has been vacant for approximately 2 years. It has been marketed for use as a public house, although attempt to sell the site or lease it as a going concern have failed.”

The pub was commonly known as the ‘little Eagle’.

It had a function room to the rear and a residential flat on the first and second floors.

The latest pub closure figures from the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) reveal that 14 pubs are closing their doors each week, prompting the organisation to renew calls for fundamental action to Save Our Pubs.

A government-set method of calculating housing need calculated that an annual total of 1,026 new properties are required across Central Lancashire. Chorley will have to build more than 280 dwellings a year.