Decision to be made over Coventry pub demolition

A decision is set to be made over the demolition of a 200-year-old former pub.

Plans to knock down the Black Horse at 73 Spon End are set to be approved at Coventry City Council's planning committee on Thursday.

The local authority said it would enable road widening works on the B4106, with the aim of easing traffic congestion on Holyhead Road.

But residents say knocking down the pub will harm the area's character.

The council said the works were legally required as part of a government direction to crack down on air pollution, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said, and will avoid a Clean Air Zone, which would see charges for drivers of high-polluting vehicles.

Residents and heritage groups including the Victorian Society, Georgian Group and Historic Buildings & Places oppose the demolition.

The council has received 32 written objections to the application, with more than 175 people signing an online petition calling for the plans to be abandoned.

In its letter, the Victorian Society cited the historic importance of the pub in Spon End which back then "was a significant industrial suburb of Coventry, outside the medieval city walls, noted for its cloth production, watchmaking and chain manufacture".

It said despite its conversion to provide residential accommodation, "the building retains much of its character with many external features from the Victorian and early 20th Century periods, so overall it is an important surviving part of the historic streetscape".

A council officer assessing the application said the scientific grounding for the roadworks and public benefit from them outweighed concerns about heritage loss. 

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