Page 24 - Demo

PAGE 24Hi Folks, Steve here with your autumnal roundup of PC issues, activities and plans. As you may already know, the owners of The Cock Inn have been granted planning permission to convert it into 3 houses. The PC supports this as it seems the only way to preserve this important and historic building which sits at the heart of our conservation area. Indeed, if you study the exterior of the building, you can see it used to be 3 separate houses, each with its own individual architectural style. Past owners of The Cock Inn sold off its original car park which now has a house on it and because of this, users of the pub took advantage of the concessionary parking on the land in front of the Church (known as the Waste Ground) which is owned by the PC. What the PC is extremely concerned about is the fact that MKCC have granted planning permission to the developers with no requirement for them to provide any parking spaces! This is an extraordinary breach of their own planning regulations! Despite there being what appears to be ample space for car parking at the rear of the building it will now mean that up to 9 cars will either be parked on the High St or on PC land (which we all know is often chock a block already!!). We fear this will compromise our obligations to maintain clear access on the East of the waste ground up to Myrtle Cottage and on the West up to Church Walk both for residents and emergency vehicles. We%u2019re also concerned that it may complicate efforts to keep a clear space to the Church Lychgate for weddings, funerals and other Church services. Because of this we are forced to consider having a strip either side of the waste ground painted with the words %u201cKeep Clear at All Times%u201d and we are seeking advice as to whether planning consent is needed to do this in good time before building and alteration work commences.North Crawley Parish CouncilBulletin - November 2025