HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nIt is accessed off a cobbled road which rises up hill towards Harden Moor. Windlehurst have now gained approval to convert the pub, which closed in 2018, into five, two-bedroom apartments.<\/p>\n
Villager Jim Metcalfe, who before he retired was a chartered planner for 50 years, opposed the plans in an emotional speech. He said : \u201cThe Rag was where I first legitimately drank beer and I was regular visitor until it sadly closed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision before planners is straightforward. \u201cIf you believe the Rag is important to community life and want to see it back in that role, your policies support you.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndeed in 2022 a change of use application was refused as the application failed to demonstrate the pub is no longer viable.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout the Rag, Nangreaves will become an isolated collection of houses without its beating heart. \u201cPlease do not be sidetracked by any suggestion that the pub no longer exists because the building is empty.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_rag.jpg\")
The Lord Raglan pub in Nangreaves<\/p>\n
A house empty for few years is still a house. \u201cThe Rag is still a pub but it won\u2019t be if this application is approved. \u201cIt\u2019s gone forever.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease help locals to bring back the Rag.\u201d 28 objections to the plans from the surrounding community were received by the council.<\/p>\n
The pub was previously listed as an asset of community value which triggered a six month moratorium period where the previous owner could not sell the site unless to a local community group.<\/p>\n
The moratorium ended in 2019 and while the Raglan Community Hub submitted a bid for the application site, it was not an acceptable bid to the former owner.<\/p>\n
The building was subsequently sold to the applicant in 2020 and following the sale, the council was required to remove the site from their assets of community value register.<\/p>\n
Pamela Chesterton, spoke on behalf of the developer. She said: \u201cThe pub is not classed as an asset of community value.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe owner is under no obligation to accept a community bid or sell at a lower price<\/p>\n
\u201cThe moratorium was intended to give the community the chance to compete. \u201cObjections centred around the loss of this pub as the last community hub fail to recognise the severe underuse leading to the retirement of the landlord and and suitable alternatives, for example the Hark to Dandler pub which is three miles away.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe public house is redundant having been underused and has now stood vacant for almost nine years. \u201cThe applicant has proven track record of bringing back into use vacant listed buildings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ward councillor John Southworth spoke against the plans. \u201cThe Lord Raglan provides a leisure amenity which is also used as a community meeting place, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll buildings in the village apart from the Lord Raglan are in residential use. \u201cNow the only non-residential building in the village has not been accessible to the community since 2018.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sustainability of Nangreaves as a community depends on the future of this building. \u201cI have full confidence that the community having the strength and resolve to make \u2018a pub as a hub\u2019 happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe building is still vital to the wellbeing of the community. \u201cIt\u2019s time to put and end to this saga, stop the rot and allow the building to return to its unique, crucial role in securing the future of the Nangreaves community\u201d<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_rag2.jpg\")
The pub can now be converted into five flats<\/p>\n
Committee member Gareth Staples-Jones opposed the application.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m getting tired of developers coming here and assuming they\u2019re going to win,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we need to think a little but differently because once this building is gone it\u2019s gone forever.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen two very different stories her tonight.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen Jim give his emotional, personal, keenly experienced story and then we\u2019ve seen the lady very professionally give her side of things for the business she represents.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d ask members to really think about the decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coun Martin Hayes disagreed, he said: \u201cI think this is going to be a good way of bringing back into use a building that\u2019s stood empty for eight years. \u201cIt will also be a way of ensuring that it\u2019s restored.\u201d<\/p>\n
By the narrowest of margins the planning committee voted to approve by five votes to four.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A grade II listed pub nicknamed ‘The Rag’ was the last publicly accessible building for an entire villageThe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526653,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,1285,393,4884,2465,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-526652","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-bury","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-manchester","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115433968061786953","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526652","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=526652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_rag1.jpg\")
The pub is a Grade II listed building<\/p>\n