Pubs and restaurants in Bracknell Forest which are now homes

With news a Chinese restaurant in Crowthorne is set to be converted into two new homes, we thought we would take a look back at some of the other hospitality settings which have been converted into new places to live in the past few years.

READ MORE: Chinese restaurant could be turned into new homes

Do you remember any of these places?

The Blue Lion, Bracknell

Having stood empty since 2014, owners of the Blue Lion finally gained permission to redevelop the establishment in 2018.

Consent was granted for 12 flats to replace the Broad Lane boozer at a planning meeting more than two years ago.

READ MORE: The Blue Lion has become a Bracknell crime hotspot

This followed series of refused planning applications submitted to Bracknell Forest Council since its closure.

In 2015 a proposal to change the building from a pub into a convenience store with an apartment above it was thrown out.

A similar scheme was refused a year later for five flats and a store.

But in 2018 it was agreed a two-and-a-half storey building would go up in place of The Blue Lion to create twelve two-bedroom flats following the pub’s demolition.

The Mango Tree, Crowthorne

Formerly popular Indian eatery The Mango Tree has been closed since 2016, the News believes.

Several planning applications have been submitted to build homes at the Church Street restaurant, which has now been demolished.

READ MORE: The history of Crowthorne's The Mango Tree

A proposal for five new homes has already been approved by Bracknell Forest Council, a design scheme which followed permission for a single-family dwelling a few months earlier.

The latest plans for ten flats at the site were refused, however.

Fox and Hounds, Sandhurst

Back in early 2018 owners of the Hancombe Road pub were given permission to build two homes at the site.

Work had started on the project as developers hoped to convert the drinking establishment into the new living spaces.

READ MORE: The Berkshire pubs we loved that have now closed down

But the reconstruction has been made difficult by the centuries-old pub’s foundations.

A new planning application was submitted in August to demolish the pub instead, making it easier for builders to make changes at the site.

The Jolly Farmer, Sandhurst

An old favourite of many in the town -- planning permission was granted for the Jolly Farmer on Yorktown Road to be redeveloped in July 2016.

The old pub will house 42 sheltered apartments for the elderly with a store added on.

READ MORE: How Sandhurst has changed over the years

The Kees, Winkfield

July 2018 saw councillors vote to approve plans to demolish the Kees restaurant in Winkfield.

Two new homes replaced the restaurant and a flat on Lovel Road.

READ MORE: Bracknell's most popular restaurants

The News understands the restaurant had been closed many years before the planning application was approved.

The Dukes Head, Sandhurst

Another pub gone from Sandhurst’s street scene.

In 2015, developers got permission to change the use of the site after landlords cleared out in summer 2013.

READ MORE: Villagers at odds with pub over noise

Designers got the all-clear to turn the pub into a home just over five years ago.

The Royal Hunt pub, Ascot (But not quite)

Much to campaigners’ delight, The Royal Hunt pub is still standing, thankfully.

Although unoccupied since 2015, developers have been unsuccessful in their attempts to build new homes at the pub on New Road.

Owners Hawthorn Leisure wants to build nine flats at the site, but have seen plans rejected by Bracknell Forest Council and The Planning Inspectorate because doing so would likely damage a protected tree.

Revised plans have now been submitted which developers say will not impact the tree.

READ MORE: The history of Ascot's The Royal Hunt pub

BFC is currently considering the application, which has had many objections lodged against it from determined campaigners desperate to re-open the pub.