{"id":1070343,"date":"2026-07-05T17:14:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T17:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1070343\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T17:14:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T17:14:18","slug":"absolute-eyesore-a386-former-pub-at-centre-of-conversion-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1070343\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Absolute eyesore&#8217; A386 former pub at centre of conversion plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The site has been closed to patrons for more than two years<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The former Drake's Cafe and Halfway House on the A386 near Tavistock\" loading=\"eager\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0_The-former-Drakes-Cafe-and-Halfway-House-on-the-A386-near-Tavistock.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"The former Drake's Cafe and Halfway House on the A386 near Tavistock\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">The former Drake&#8217;s Cafe and Halfway House on the A386 near Tavistock(Image: Google Street View)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A former landmark pub and cafe on the A386 just outside of <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.devonlive.com\/all-about\/tavistock\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">Tavistock<\/a> could be converted into homes if West Devon District Council grants planning consent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Drake\u2019s Cafe and Halfway House and car park at Grenofen are being proposed for five properties.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A 17th century coaching inn, the Halfway House got its name because it sat exactly halfway between the Barbican in <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.devonlive.com\/all-about\/plymouth\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">Plymouth<\/a> and Launceston, the ancient capital of Cornwall.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">It was later run as a cafe but closed in January 2024 due to retirement and viability concerns.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Planning agents for Hunts Renovations Ltd said two new builds would be situated on the car park and the cafe\/pub would be converted into three homes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The scheme has received some local objections with one saying the site falls within the Cornwall and West Devon UNESCO World Heritage Site and should be protected.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">They said it represents \u201cthe sole potential asset for local social cohesion\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cFor local families, it is a vital safeguard against rural isolation. Furthermore, positioned directly on the Drake&#8217;s Trail active travel network, the venue is a vital piece of economic and recreational infrastructure for thousands of annual tourists, hikers, and cyclists.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201c Its loss fundamentally harms the setting of these heritage trails and the local visitor economy, violating the Tavistock Neighbourhood Plan\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Eleven letters of objection have so far been submitted to the council and two in support.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A resident in support said: \u201cBuilding houses on this site is a good idea. It&#8217;s an absolute eyesore at the moment. However I think two and three bedroom houses only are needed around here. You&#8217;d even do well to build two bedroom maisonettes . I&#8217;m also assuming the road will have a 30 mph limit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Cars can currently drive at 40mph on this road.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The public have until July 23 to submit their comments on the application.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The site has been closed to patrons for more than two years The former Drake&#8217;s Cafe and Halfway&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1070344,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[6],"tags":[51,8594,8937,77613,16,15],"class_list":["post-1070343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-plymouth","tag-pubs-and-bars","tag-tavistock","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116868499757624133","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1070343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1070343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1070343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1070344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1070343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1070343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1070343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}