They used to be the perfect place to stop mid Sunday walk or for a drink and a catch up with some old friends.

But now several of our favourite local boozers have closed their doors forever and been snapped up be developers. We take a look at the pubs across Kent which are getting ready for a new lease of life...

Ashford: The Prince Albert

Despite one councillor's objections, the derelict Prince Albert pub in New Street, Ashford, had to be demolished to make way for a block of 14, two-bed flats, near the town centre.

Plans were approved in 2017 and construction crews have been working on the five-storey block since 2018 with work set to be completed this year.

The pub had been empty since it closed in 2008 and became an eyesore at the entrance to the town centre after being ravaged by fire in 2014.

Cllr Bernard Heyes (Con), who at the original planning committee meeting said the new flats were "nothing more than a hideous monstrosity", does not appreciate the look of the building.

Even with the criticism over the apartment block design, Cllr Paul Clokie (Con, Tenterden North) said during the 2017 meeting that Ashford was moving forward and the council had to strike a balance between the old and the new.

Canterbury: The Mill

The new owners of a long-standing pub that police effectively forced into closure, unveiled plans to convert the site into homes this year.

The Mill, in Sturry Road, Canterbury, was said to have become unviable when officers ordered that door security staff be employed every night as a result of heightened crime.

It closed its doors in 2019 - the same year a cannabis factory was uncovered at the property - and was later put on the market.

Following months of attracting little interest from potential landlords, it was sold at a cut price to new owners last autumn.

Now, Marcoz Properties & Developments Ltd wants to turn the redundant pub - formerly known as the Waterloo Tavern, Saxby’s and the Run of the Mill - into two flats.

The Chatham-based company says it would make no financial sense to bring the inn back into use, and its poor reputation would make it "impossible" to do so.

The Plough Inn, Herne Bay

An arson-hit pub is also under going a striking transformation.

After the green light was given to a bid to convert the derelict building into a into a family home, the former watering hole in Margate Road, Herne Bay, is in the process of becoming a four bedroom house.

Father-and-son developers Ralph and Alistair Noel had launched two bids to demolish the pub and replace it with a convenience store and flats in 2018.

But after Canterbury City Council rebuffed both applications - each time noting that the work would have led to the “unacceptable loss of a community facility” - the pair decided to revise their plans.

In their latest set of proposals - which have been given the go-ahead - they opted to keep the shell of the pub, for a new home and erect a bungalow and a block of four flats on the plot.

Lisa Carter has lived in Margate Road for six years. The 37-year-old beautician even had her 30th birthday party at the pub.

She said: “The Plough Inn was really convenient for everyone. It was right in the middle of all of the houses and we’ve now had to find a new local.

“The building work that is taking place is respectable, we don’t really hear much.

“It is just such a shame that the pub is gone now, so many in our area are being converted into homes.”

Lyn Bradbeer, a 69-year-old dog walker has lived in the area since 2014 said: “It’s really sad that another pub is being converted into houses.

" I did used to go to The Plough Inn and now I feel the new builds are really invasive.

“They don’t match the houses in the area at all. The build hasn’t been too noisy or intrusive though.”

Folkestone: White Lion

A pub that closed after a shooting is another premises due to be transformed into 18 new homes and a cafe.

In 2006 an 18-year-old man was shot in the leg at the pub and was taken to hospital with a gunshot wound which detectives said was not thought to be life-threatening.

Planning permission has been granted to convert the White Lion, which has been derelict since 2006, into supported living accommodation for adults with learning disabilities and/or autism.

The building, in Cheriton High Street, will provide 12 bedroom suites each with a kitchenette.

An extension will be added to the building for a new staircase and lift, and a community laundry room will be available.

Part of the ground floor will be used as a new cafe plus rooms for training and an office.

Then, a new building which will include supported living accommodation of three one-bed flats and three two-bed flats, will be built on land behind.

It is not known when the renovation project will start.

Medway: Shipwrights Arms

A pub that hasn't poured a pint in three years is also destined to become a block of flats.

The boarded up Shipwrights Arms in Chatham has been empty since it closed in 2018.

In 2019 an application was approved to convert the 1930s building into five flats, despite some objections. But at the end of last year another bid was made to increase this to seven flats.

The first proposals were revised when concerns were raised by the council's planning committee in October 2020 that the two units on the top floor were too small.

So the blueprints were changed to reduce the project from six flats to five and these updated plans were approved in December last year.

However, another application, under a different name, has been submitted which includes an extension to allow seven flats to be created.

The site in Hills Terrace has a long history with the planning department and another application which also included an extension was refused in 2008. Two other applications made in 2009 were refused and withdrawn.

The latest blueprints include four two-bedroom flats and three one-bedroom flats over three floors.

Swale: The Lion Inn, Milton Regis

Sharing the same destiny as many other derelict pubs in Kent is the Lion Inn in Milton Regis.

The derelict building in Church Street was converted into a home in around 1979, but is currently vacant.

Plans for a new five-storey building include a mix 15 of one and two bedroom apartments, each with a balcony, and will include 17 parking spaces and 15 for bicycles.

Currently, the former drinking hole stands at two storeys and has three parking spaces.

The pub can be traced back to 1897 and had been a popular pub for paper mill workers and brickmakers. Boxing matches were also held in its function hall upstairs.

The Old House at Home, Isle of Sheppey

A prominent pub on the Isle of Sheppey dating back to the 1860s could also be knocked down and turned into flats if plans are approved.

An application has been sent to Swale council outlines proposals for The Old House at Home in Sheerness High Street, which is at least 150 years-old.

If given the green light it would see the venue demolished and replaced with a three and four storey building with commercial space on the ground floor.

The applicants explained the pub, which was permanently closed last summer, “has had a change of landlord at least five times in the last eight to 10 years”.

Planning documents said the pub had repeatedly come to the attention of the authorities due to “anti-social behaviour, substance abuse and numerous other infringements of the licensing regulations.”

The Wheatsheaf, Sittingbourne

Another historic town centre pub could be partly demolished and turned into a micropub and flats.

Proposals have been submitted to Swale council to build seven new apartments at The Wheatsheaf in East Street, Sittingbourne, which has been around since the early 1830s.

Time was called by the most recent landlord in autumn 2019.

If given the green light, there would be seven two-bedroom properties, including four “duplex flats” built at the site, opposite Aldi supermarket.

A planning statement from applicants UK Land Investors said: “This will be retained for use as a micropub on the ground floor with a self contained two-bedroom flat.”

The developers said the single-storey building joined to the east of the pub, which was built more than 100 years ago in the early 1900s, would be demolished.

A pub garden and existing car park would also be bulldozed and redeveloped as a block of flats.

Thanet: The Orb, Margate - now demolished for flats

One of Kent's oldest pubs has also been demolished, despite fierce opposition to building flats on the site.

The Orb in Ramsgate Road, Margate, is believed to have been the town's most ancient inn.

It was built in 1498 and began selling ale from 1502, during the reign of Henry VII.

But the pub, which closed in 2017, has now been flattened to make way for 12 flats and two maisonettes.

DHA Planning, writing on behalf of developers Grifo Development Ltd, said the building is of limited local heritage significance, which is outweighed by the benefits.

Goody Demolition is currently on the site completing the demolition of the pub, which was called the Crown and Sceptre until 1962.

The hoardings say the building will be replaced with modern apartments available for rent.

The Sportsman, Cliffsend - now soon to be micropub and cycle cafe

A former village pub opposite a nature reserve looks set to be demolished to make way for seven homes, a micropub and cycle cafe despite concerns by police and residents.

The scheme for The Sportsman in Cliffsend, Ramsgate, previously run by Shepherd Neame before its closure in 2017, includes four houses in the footprint of the pub and three apartments in a separate three-storey building.

Planning officers at Thanet District Council are recommending the scheme be approved, once the necessary planning obligations by developer Kentish Projects Ltd are secured.

But Kent Police has written to the authority stating it has "significant concerns for the potential for crime".

Neighbours have also objected, warning it is an over-development of the site.

The pub on Sandwich Road, which according to dover-kent.com dates back to the 18th century, has been the focus of controversial plans since its closure.

In 2018, proposals were submitted by Kentish Projects Ltd, which is behind a number of luxury developments in Thanet, to build two blocks of flats and a micropub.

Since then, the scheme has been amended to reduce the number of apartments from eight, down to seven - two two-bedroom and one one-bedroom.

The Foresters Arms, Ramsgate

A pub that was unable to compete with a nearby Wetherspoon will also be turning into homes.

John Anastasio, who took on The Foresters Arms in Ramsgate three years ago, had failed in two previous bids to convert the premises in Boundary Road into two houses.

It means the old inn, which dates back to 1860 and was sold at auction for £200,000 in 2018, will have a two-storey rear extension built and be turned into a three-bedroom property and a two-bedroom home.

Thanet council’s planning team, which had turned down the previous plans also on the basis of the appearance of the homes, have now approved the amended scheme.

Tonbridge and Malling: The Rising Sun

A pub that had to close almost a week before lockdown will not be reopening its doors to drinkers.

The Rising Sun in East Malling shut to pub goers following positive Covid-19 test results for landlord Paul Fincham and his wife Tina last year.

With pubs ordered to close their doors during the month-long second lockdown, the pub in Mill Street was set to reopen by December 3 at the earliest, however this was not the case.

Mr Fincham said that while the lockdown was in place the business will be shut entirely and would not be offering takeaway or delivery services.

Residents in the area said it was a shame the pub was now closed but were always prepared for the premises to become housing.

To read the Secret Drinker’s pub reviews click here.

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