The Old Station House pub plans recommended for approval

The Old Station House, situated between a railway line and the Watford Cross development in St Albans Road, has been vacant for six years but proposals to turn it into a pub were submitted at the end of July.

Watford Borough Council’s development management committee is set to consider it next Tuesday (October 1).

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CGI showing how the pub would look. (Image: Watford Council planning portal/CESA Developments Limited/Nissen Richards.)

Council officers have looked over the planning documents and recommended approval ahead of the meeting, but the final decision is down to the councillors on the committee, as it was called in due to the number of objections to the listed building consent.

Watford Cross residents said having a pub so close by would leave them feeling “unsafe” due to concerns over potential noise, antisocial behaviour and litter.

Consultant Alsop Verrill, which is working on the proposal, responded that it was wrong to suggest that all pubs cause antisocial behaviour and non-stop noise.

Photos of the site included in the planning application. (Image: Watford Council planning portal/CESA Developments Limited/Nissen Richards.) It also emphasised that the small site, which was was most recently an MOT centre, has been derelict and unused for six years, and that Watford Borough Council would be able to control how a potential pub there operates through planning conditions.

As well as a change of use, the proposal seeks permission to demolish a “dilapidated” shed next to the Grade II listed building, which is thought to have been built between 1859 and 1873. It also involves adding contemporary extensions, refurbishing the interior, replacing an incomplete concrete ramp with metal wheelchair access, and carrying out external works.

CGI showing how the proposed extension would look. (Image: Watford Council planning portal/CESA Developments Limited/Nissen Richards.) Designs aim to preserve the character of the building by physically separating it from the modern extension via a short walkway, and otherwise largely leaving it intact.

The bar and kitchen would be within the extension while most of the seating and bathrooms are set to be in the original building.

In the 19th century, The Clarendon Arms inn is believed to have stood in roughly the same location, as part of the original Watford railway station there before Watford Junction.