According to planning permission details released by the local council, plans to convert the local into a residential area have been under way since June this year.
A member of staff at the pub told The Morning Advertiser she didn’t know much about the plans, but it would remain a pub until April next year, adding the pub’s future had been up for debate for a long time.
Previously up for sale
The pub had been up for sale for £500,000 in 2016, but was removed from vendor’s website, with no update.
Plans submitted by developers Alexander Gemini showed the four four-bedroomed properties were intended to be build, as well as two blocks of one-bedroomed flats and four two-bedroomed flats.
Plans also stated the current property was in a poor state of repair and was bought by the current owner due to failing standards and commercial viability.
However, comments on the pub’s Facebook page showed the pub was once a valuable asset to the community, with one user in 2017 calling it a “great pub” with “friendly staff”.
Twitter users said it would be a “shame to lose a pub called the Joyful Whippet”, while another lamented that the council’s announcement failed to mention its “immense popularity according to local residents”.
Yet to be approved
While planning has been submitted, it has yet to be approved and locals are able to comment on the application.
The large red-brick pub sits back a short way from the A27 and is believed to have been built in the 1950s and had been renamed the Abbott of Sompting before reverting to its original name in 2010.
It offered a garden, parking, pub games and sports and was predominantly wet-led venue.