Plans to reopen a closed-down 18th century hotel and pub have been approved by Woking Borough Council’s (WBC) planning committee. 

The Anchor in Knaphill, built in the late 1700s, closed its doors in 2020. Plans had already been approved to split the building into housing and a smaller pub.

Any hope that would see the Sandcastle pub, as it’s sometimes referred to locally, reopen in some shape or form were slowly dashed when the planning permission expired with no work carried out.

The plans, which were approved by the planning committee on Tuesday, September 3. Include an extension to build three two-bed, and five one-bed homes above a smaller, by 30 per cent, venue. The application is the resubmission of a bid, granted in 2018 which lapsed in 2022.

The Anchor, in Lower Guildford Road, is locally listed and council planning policy seeks to protect pubs “because of the importance of these uses for meeting the everyday needs of those living locally”.

“Pubs can also be regarded as community facilities and are therefore offered protection”, WBC’s planning strategy reads.

Planners recommended the proposal be approved, saying the designs “strike an acceptable balance between retaining a commercial use and giving the existing pub an opportunity to remain whilst delivering additional residential units as part of a mixed-use development of the site.”

The Anchor has twice been nominated and designated as an Asset of Community Value but on both occasions the listing was overturned by WBC. Noise concerns linked to living above a pub were addressed, according to the planners.

They said: “The applicant has provided a report from an acoustic consultant indicating that acceptable noise levels in the residential units would be achievable subject to various mitigation measures including acoustic insulation and glazing specifications. 

“The council’s environmental health team has been consulted and raises no objections.”