A developer wants to reopen the pub while also building new flats but a local football club has concerns about the scheme, reports Nick Clark, Local Democracy Reporter

The Spotted Dog Inn has been derelict for two decades (credit Google)

Plans to renovate a 500-year-old pub in Forest Gate and build new flats behind it are set to be determined by Newham councillors next week.

Real estate company Highpride Properties wants to renovate The Spotted Dog Inn, which is Grade 2-listed. It also wants to build two blocks of flats and an apartment hotel next to the pub in Upton Lane.

Plans submitted to the council say approval would mean the “sensitive restoration, refurbishment and reuse of a unique listed building”.

The Spotted Dog Inn was built in the late 15th or early 16th Century and also has Victorian and late Georgian features.

It was listed by Historic England in 1967. However, it has been vacant since 2004, when it was also placed on Historic England’s ‘at risk’ regsiter.

Highpride Properties says it wants to refurbish its historic elements and restore the building as a pub. It also wants to build two blocks of flats and the hotel to the rear and east of the pub, of three and four storeys respectively.

The developer claims the development would enable it to restore the pub.

Clapton Community Football Club (CCFC), whose ground is next door, rasied worries about an earlier version of the plans in January.

It noted that in original plans, bedrooms in the nearest block of flats faced directly towards the ground. The club’s letter said: “This raises concerns about noise disturbances from football matches and community events at The Old Spotted Dog.”

The club called on the developers to “reorientate these bedrooms by 180 degrees to mitigate regular, weekly noise disturbances”. It also said at least 50% of the new homes should be designated as social housing.

In response, Highpride Properties says it redesigned the flats so that the bedrooms face east, away from the ground. However second-floor plans appear to show some bedrooms still facing west.

The developer said it could not designate any of the flats for social or ‘affordable’ housing. It said the cost of renovating the pub would make this unviable. Council planning officers have accepted this.

The council says it ran a new consultation on the redesigned plans between 29th July and 19th August and sent letters to all neighbouring properties. However, a CCFC spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the club wasn’t aware of the new plans.

The spokesperson said this meant the club was unable to say whether it supported or opposed the new plans without first consulting its members, visitors or trustees and users of the ground.

Councillors are set to consider whether to grant planning approval to the scheme at a strategic development committee on Tuesday (9th).

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.