The future of a long-standing Gravesend town centre pub looks to have been saved after planners approved a scheme to build six new letting rooms.

The owners of TJ's in Milton Road had feared their plan would be turned down by Gravesham council, as the project will mean the demolition and replacement of the pub's 19thC 'outrigger' – a timber-framed extension at the rear of the building.

Planning officers recommended refusing the plan due to the loss of the outrigger, which had been identified as a heritage asset which "makes positive contribution to the conservation area and is a rare survivor."

But at a planning meeting last week committee members noted that refusing the idea could result in the loss of the whole pub, which has been operating since the early 1800s.

Woodlands ward Cllr Anthony Pritchard told the committee the outrigger was not visible from the street front, and said if the application was not granted then there was every chance the business would close, resulting in the loss of the heritage.

And members agreed with the argument, approving the scheme while giving authority to the chair, vice chair and service manager (planning) to agree planning conditions.

Landlady Iris Smith said she and fellow pub owner Thomas O'Keeffe were pleased with the decision, but were not celebrating too much until the conditions had been agreed.

"Like many businesses we've got to have additional income streams," she explained. "Hopefully the pub will be operating for a while longer. It will be 200 years next year, so we'll be celebrating."

She said economic trends and coronavirus had threatened the pub trade in general, which meant the business had been at risk if it didn't evolve.
"Even before Covid, hospitality had been finding things very challenging, and so Covid has taken its toll," she added. "The fact we have permission to have this income stream will certainly help us.

"We are in our 17th year here. One of the people at the meeting said when we came in there were six pubs on this block. The Globe is now an ice cream parlour. The Terrace is a mini supermarket, the Crown & Thistle has just been sold, the Coal Boy is flats, and so is the Pilot and the City of London.

"We're the last man standing – and that's only this little square. If you go through the rest of the town, most of them are gone up and down the streets."

She said she had been initially confused by discussion of the outrigger, but said it was reassuring to hear common sense prevail.

"They wanted us to repair it but unfortunately it was beyond repair – the amount of repairing would require a new building.

"We're in the conservation area and we appreciate there are needs for conservation, but you couldn't see it unless you're in the building opposite on the second floor.

"It's a good news story," she added. "It's good to see the support for keeping local businesses going."

Although the pub was first listed in 1823 as a free house – then called the British Tar – the building itself dates back to the late 1790s. The outrigger extension was added at some point around 1860, around the same time the pub was taken over by Barclay & Perkins Brewery in 1858.

In 1910 the pub was taken over by Russell's Gravesend Brewery, and then by Truman's Brewery in 1931, before Derek Winch bought the British Tar from the brewery in 1977, and the pub returned to be a free house.

The new plan will also allow the pub to extend its function room and improve its toilet facilities.