Plans to extend Hare and Hounds pub at Framfield

Plans to extend the Hare and Hounds pub at Framfield are before Wealden District Council.

The proposal is to build a new entrance to the pub from the car park and provide a new commercial kitchen.

A design and access statement submitted with the planning application says the pub is currently “struggling to survive” but a potential new tenant is willing to invest in the business to improve it and keep it open for the village of Framfield.

The existing kitchen, which faces on to the pub car park, is described as inadequate and the proposal is to extend it into the car park by about 1.1 metre.

The statement says the car park is of a reasonable size and no parking spaces would be lost by the extension which would be single storey with tiled-pitched roofs and two gables.

An entrance to the pub would also be provided from the car park.

The statement says: “At present to enter the pub you have to walk from the car park along a narrow pavement to the front of the building and with the pub being located right on the corner of the road this is not ideal or safe.

“We consider that the design is simple and sympathetic to the existing building and is more attractive than the present elevation to the car park which can be clearly seen from the road.”

The planning application has been submitted by Mr Stewart Bungay, from Polegate.