Castle pub plan turned down

Councillors at last night's (Wednesday's) committee meeting turned down plans submitted by the site's owners to replace The Castle pub in Battersea High Street with a mainly residential development that would have also included a new pub on the ground floor.

In rejecting the application, the committee ruled that replacing the current two storey public house with a new building of up to five storeys high would be inappropriate and not in keeping with the existing street scene.

Committee chairman Cllr Nick Cuff said: "The proposed new building was just too big to properly fit in with other buildings in this conservation area.

"It would have towered over its neighbours and have too big an impact on the area. The committee was very clear that the design was not appropriate for this site."