A 200-YEAR-OLD former Bradford pub is set to be converted into flats, dashing any final hopes a campaign group had of turning the building into a community hub and hostelry.

Members of the Friends of the Kings Arms Community Benefit Society worked for a year to try and save the pub of the same name in Highgate, Heaton, but were beaten to the property at auction by a private developer, Sijad Bahadur.

The group wanted to buy the building to create Bradford’s “first community pub”, and raised more than £110,000 to try and secure the property via a community shares scheme.

After buying the building, Mr Bahadur stated he was open to working with the group to lease the ground floor as a pub, but didn’t receive any offers. His plans to convert the old inn into six flats have now been recommended for approval by Council officers, and will be discussed by the Bradford Area Planning Panel at City Hall on Wednesday.

A report on the plans for the building, which was listed as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) in September 2014, states: “It is acknowledged that a section of the community clearly laments the closure of the public house and this is demonstrated by the listing of the building as an ACV and the representations that have been received.

“In this case there are other pubs close to the site with the nearest being The Turf at the bottom of Emm Lane and the Hare & Hounds on Toller Lane. There are also other pubs within the centres of Shipley, Saltaire, and Bradford within a short bus ride away.

“In addition, other community facilities including local schools, a church, a village hall, a post office, a pharmacy, and a number of food outlets remain nearby. These facilities provide a mix of uses in which the members of the community can come into contact with each other.

“Consequently, it has not been convincingly demonstrated that the loss of the Kings Arms reduces the community’s ability to meets its day to day needs. It is therefore considered to be reasonable to now consider all other alternative uses to bring the building back into active use.”

Mr Bahadur said that if planning permission was granted, the flats would take between nine months and a year to complete. On his offer to lease the ground floor as a pub, he said: “I put a ‘To Let’ board up last September and no-one contacted the agent involved with any interest. The group said they wanted a community hub, but no-one came forward. They said it was an empty gesture, but that was not the case.”

Sonja McNally, chairman of the Friends society, said while individual members and residents were continuing to protest against the development, the group had essentially conceded defeat.

She said: “This was never a case of just leasing the bottom floor, people wanted bricks and mortar for their investment and we wanted the whole building for the community to own and run. People will object, but the pub is gone, we know that. We can’t go back now, but there will always be disappointment that we got so close.”