PENPARCAU’S only pub, controversially closed last January, has been put up for sale for £350,000.
The Tollgate Inn, closed in 2014 after Brains Brewery said that it is “no longer a viable business”, was initially set to be part of a large-scale housing development for the Diocese of Menevia, including a church to replace the currently closed St Winefride’s Church on Queens Road, Aberystwyth.
New plans from the Diocese could instead see St Winefride’s redeveloped or a new church built elsewhere in the town – and do not include the Tollgate pub as part of the scheme.
However, a section of the land behind the pub, incorporating parts of the car park and the playground area to the rear, has been sold to the Diocese, which has had outline plans for a 71-house development approved.
The scheme would reduce the outside space at the pub for new owners by around 50 per cent but would bring around 200 extra residents to its doorstep if the pub reopens.
That scheme, which was given the go-ahead despite “significant concerns” over the proposals from local residents and Aberystwyth Town Council, should help the pub become viable, planning agents for the Diocese previously said.