A PLANNING inspector will decide the fate of a village pub near York following a public inquiry.

The appeal hearing concerned Ryedale District Council’s rejection of plans to convert The White Swan at Thornton Le Clay into a five-bedroom family home.

Following the pub’s closure in 2020, it was purchased by Richard Harrison who planned to convert it into a dwelling, but hundreds of residents have campaigned for the property to be maintained as a pub.

The council said the conversion application was refused “because it was considered that the proposed change of use of the public house would result in the loss of a valued local community facility”.

The authority has also listed the property as an Asset of Community Value and locals are hoping to run the pub through community groups. However, those wishing to convert the pub said the groups’ plans were not realistic and the council’s decision should be overturned.

At the appeal hearing, representations were made by various parties including the Save Our Swan (SOS) group, local business owners, the district council, and the appellants in the case who purchased the property in 2020 for £450,000.

Much of the hearing was focused on determining viability, impact on the community, and compliance with local policy.

A statement submitted by the SOS group made the argument that there is a “demonstrable need” for the property to remain as a pub which it says allows for interaction and social cohesion in the community.

The vast majority of people who responded to a survey wished to keep the pub open, as a facility to support, not only the local custom, but also serve as a destination dining pub for the wider area.

However, the appellants argued that conversion of the property into a dwelling would not adversely affect the village, with other community buildings acting as meeting places. They also suggested that pubs in nearby villages would still be accessible to locals.

James Cleary spoke on behalf of the previous landlady, Julie Duck and her husband Mike Duck, who had run the pub since 2016.

They said: “We had a thriving village pub with a great reputation for food and drink and we were proud that we had the highest combined TripAdvisor and Google scores for any pub in the area.

“We had worked hard to achieve this and to see it lost due to the misguided actions of the appellants is soul-destroying for us. We really hope that The White Swan is once again able to play its part in the local community.”

They added: “The White Swan was clearly viable and we were prepared to invest heavily in the purchase of the freehold.”

A decision on the appeal is expected to be made next week.