A BID to flatten a pub building and replace it with an apartment block has been refused, with planners saying the work would lead to “the loss of a community facility.”

The Cross Roads Inn, between Haworth and Keighley, closed as a pub last year.

Earlier this year, the building’s owners, Prospect Estates Ltd, revealed plans to flatten the pub and replace it with a large apartment building made up of 30 flats.

The proposals led to a huge outcry from Cross Roads residents, local councillors and Keighley MP Robbie Moore – and a campaign to save the pub was set up.

Now the planning application had been refused by Bradford Council, with planners listing 11 different reasons for refusal.

One of the most significant reasons chimed with what the campaign had argued – that the loss of one of the few pubs in the village would impact the local community.

The traditional pub stands on the junction of Haworth Road and Halifax Road in the small village of Cross Roads.

One significant element of its history is the fact Branwell Bronte, the brother of the Bronte sisters, once entered a writing competition in the pub – a turn of events that led to a theory that he had written acclaimed novel Wuthering Heights.

The planning application would have seen the pub flattened and replaced by a building that would be a mix of three and four storeys.

Over 330 people had objected to the planning application.

Among the Council departments to object to the plans were the Clean Air Team, who said the apartments would raise “serious air quality exposure concerns.”

Referring to the plans, officers said: “The proposed development would enclose this busy junction limiting opportunities for pollutant dispersion.

“This could result in a build-up of pollutants at this location having adverse impacts for current residents and exposing a significant number of new residents to poor air quality. Looking at the plans a number of the properties would have no source of natural ventilation other than windows opening directly onto the roadside.”

As well as the air quality concerns and the fears of a loss of a community facility, other reasons given by the planners for refusing the scheme included

  • The “over dominance” of the building on neighbouring properties
  • The lack of detail over how future residents will be impacted by the noise of the neighbouring road
  • A shortfall in on-site parking spaces
  • The “loss of a non-designated heritage asset as identified within the Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury Neighbourhood Plan.”