The Boot Inn, Shipton Bellinger to close as plans granted

A planning inspector has granted permission for The Boot Inn in Shipton Bellinger to be converted into a residential dwelling with associated parking, following an appeal lodged by Atlas Planning Group on behalf of owner Lee Turland.

The scheme covers the former pub building and small areas of land to the front and rear, but excludes the detached outbuildings and existing car park.

The appeal, considered under planning inspectorate reference 6007020, related to application 25/01951/FULLN for the “conversion and alteration to create a residential dwelling, and provision of parking” at the High Street site, opposite Bramble Cottage and The Old Schoolroom and close to St Peter’s Church and the village war memorial.

Drawings for the plan to change the pub into a five bedroom home. (Image: Dan Quina Brito)

In its statement, submitted for Mr Turland, Atlas Planning Group argued that the pub should be allowed to change use to a home, setting out the appellant’s case against Test Valley Borough Council’s refusal.

The council, in a formal appeal statement written by planning officer Gillian Wheeler, maintained that The Boot is a non-designated heritage asset and valued community facility and that insufficient evidence had been provided to show it was no longer needed or viable, relying in part on specialist advice from Colliers about marketing and valuation.

Campaign group Shipton Needs a Pub (SNAP) said the decision means the village will now lose its only pub.

A spokesperson for SNAP said: "We wanted to share an important update with the village.

"The Planning Inspector has allowed the owner's appeal, which means permission has now been granted for development at The Boot Inn, and we lose our village pub forever.

"This isn’t the outcome we hoped for, and it will come as a surprise and disappointment to so many people who have worked so hard to protect our village pub.

"But more than anything, we want to say thank you.

"The support, the turnout, the letters, the encouragement – it has shown just how much this community cares about its shared spaces and its future."

"We’ll take a little time to regroup, understand the decision in full, and consider what the next steps might be."

The Boot Inn, designated an Asset of Community Value, has been closed since August 2022 and was previously the subject of refused applications in 2023 and 2024.